Colliding Stars
by Luck Andro
Summary: Here lies my collection of NaLu-centric oneshots! I hope you all enjoy the little scenarios I think of for Natsu and Lucy! T for violence and language
1. Flame in the Darkness

_Time for a new series! Hello fairies, and welcome to my new collection of nalu-centric oneshots! Sometimes, I have ideas for little mini stories that wouldn't fit into the main story I have going right now, so this is where all of those random little thoughts will go from now on. I hope you enjoy! Because school is painful and I work hard to make these oneshots as good as I can, I'll be posting one EVERY OTHER week. So, expect another chapter from me on Tuesday, March 24._

_Check out the other stories on my page if you feel like it! I have one on hiatus while I work on switching things around and one that I'm in the process of editing. _

_Also, I'd be glad to take any requests!_

_All the typical disclaimers apply. The genius Hiro Mashima is responsible for the main characters and the original story, while I'm only here to input my own OCs and spins on it. And without further ado, here is story number one of 'Colliding Stars'._

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_"__Who are you?"_

I didn't know words could hurt so much. How could those three simple words stringed into one sentence shatter my heart beyond repair?

It was just a normal job, for Mavis' sake! I went out with Natsu and Happy like always, complaining about how if they ruined this job I'd be kicked out of my apartment and have to move in with them. They both swore they'd be careful, which I didn't believe for a second. I just crossed my fingers and hoped that we could collect all of our reward without any problems for once.

We were supposed to find some witch that kept putting curses on the townspeople. We tracked her up to a little cottage on top of a hill, only a mile away from the town. She was an old lady with deep lines all over her face and wispy grey hair. Innocent. I didn't believe she was even a witch at first. She looked like someone's frail grandmother.

She put up a hell of a fight, though. Before Natsu could attack her once, she was out of her chair and in front of him.

"Disappear thy heart till confession breaks," she whispered so quietly I wasn't sure I heard it right, touched her forehead to his, and he was down. I was left to fight her with Happy's help. Luckily, whatever she did to Natsu used a lot of her magic. She was somewhat easy to beat, especially with Loke's help, and we were finished within ten minutes. Natsu was still unconscious when Happy and I crouched over him.

Guards rushed in and trapped Edna –the elderly woman- in magic dispelling runes. One of them handed me a sack full of jewels and thanked me, promising to call on Fairy Tail again if they ever need more help. I was too worried to be amazed that we'd actually completed a mission without destroying something. Loke helped me carry Natsu back to the train, as Happy was almost to the point of panicking about the dragon slayer's state and in no condition to carry Natsu's heavy body. We got him back to the guild an hour later. He still hadn't woken up. Wendy wasn't there, although even if she was, there would have been nothing for her to heal. Natsu wasn't injured anywhere that anyone could see, and his breathing and heartbeat were both normal.

He'd only gained consciousness a few moments ago, much to both my and Happy's relief, when he asked the question that froze me to my spot beside his bed.

"Natsu, what do you mean?" I laughed awkwardly, hoping his strange question was a joke even when my senses told me it wasn't.

"Natsu, that's Lucy! Don't you remember? She's on our team! She gives me fishes!" Happy said confusedly. My selfish side hoped that if Natsu didn't remember me, then he would remember anyone else either…

"Happy, I've never met a Lucy in my life," Natsu responded seriously.

"But that's Lucy! She-"

"It's fine, Happy," I cut him off, trying not to show how hurt I was. "I'll just go let everyone else know that he's awake." They didn't try to stop me from leaving. Natsu probably didn't care that the stranger was walking away, and Happy was too shocked and confused.

That damn witch must have done something bad to his head when she touched him. What were those words she said? Damn it, I can't remember! I was too preoccupied with fighting her to remember that sentence she said! She must have erased his memories of me. But why? Why only me, and not Happy too? Why not erase every memory in his head? _Why only me?_

During the short walk from the side of Natsu's bed to the door of the infirmary, I rearranged my face to resemble a mask of happiness. I made my mouth curve, moved my eyebrows to a glad kind of slant, lifted my cheekbones, but there was nothing I could do for the hollow look in my eyes that I hoped nobody would notice.

"He's awake!" I yelled into the hall, adding the perfect wash of relief through my words. I honestly was relieved. Even if he couldn't remember me, at least he was alive and okay.

People rushed past me and into the room to visit the dragon slayer. From the talk I heard coming from behind me, he remembers all of them. Why not me?

_Maybe this is all a dream. Maybe I can go home and wake up, and everything will be fine. If not, I'll get some rest, and then research why this happened. Could there be a way to fix this? _I trudged towards the door of the guild when I was discovered.

"Lu-chan, where are you going? Natsu just woke up!" Levy said, tugging on my hand.

"I'm sure he wants to see _you_," Cana said suggestively, wiggling her eyebrows for effect.

"I forgot something at home. I'll be back later," I said cheerfully.

"You're lying," Erza said, walking towards us. I wasn't surprised. Erza knows me almost as well as Natsu does. Did, I reminded myself bitterly.

How could he not know me at all?

"Where are you going, Lucy?" Mirajane asked. Faced with all of my closest friends, my expression slipped a little. Erza gasped silently when she saw eyes. Damn Edna for forcing me to lie to my friends. She took away his memory of me.

"I'm not feeling too good. I'm going to go home and sleep a bit. I'll see you guys later," I said, shielding my eyes with my hair. I pulled my hand from Levy's and walked quickly out of the guild, ignoring the confused and concerned looks pointed at my back. I slumped home slowly, trying to keep my mind on anything but the stupid pink haired boy who currently doesn't know who I am.

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"NATSU!" Erza stomped into the infirmary, pushing past anyone who hasn't already moved away for the S Class mage. She was followed by a storm of angry girls. Not even the master tried to stop them from circling Natsu's bed and shooting daggers at him through their eyes.

Lucy's face when she was leaving was horrible. Erza had never seen the blond look so sad in the entire time she'd known her. It was painful to see how hard Lucy was trying to look happy. She lied so her friends wouldn't worry about her. It's a typical Lucy thing to do, but that doesn't make the impact feel any better. The worst part, though, was her eyes. They were hollow and glassy, like she'd been trying to hold back tears for too long. She looked heartbroken.

'Why did she have to try to be so damn strong?' Erza cursed in her mind.

Natsu, on the other hand, looked full of life. Before Erza and the other had entered the room, everyone had been talking and laughing with him, besides Happy. He was the only other person aware of the situation. Now, not a single person made a noise. Natsu's face was white as a sheet when he noticed the look of fury on Erza's face.

"_What_ did you do to Lucy?" she hissed at him. His face morphed into one of thought.

"That blond girl?" he asked innocently. Levy's hair stood on end. So he had the _nerve_ to act like he didn't even know her!

"YES, that blond girl that just left CRYING because YOU!" Cana snapped. She was completely sober, which was a miracle itself.

"Who is she? Did she join the guild while I was asleep or somethin?" Natsu asked. Shocked gasps sounded around the room. Mira's face contorted into one of lethal rage as she transformed into her Demon Halphas form.

"Hold on," Master interrupted, holding out one hand to stop the demon from brutally murdering the pink headed idiot. "Natsu, do you not know anyone by the name of Lucy Heartfilia?" Natsu put a finger on his chin in thought, which also surprised everyone.

"Nope. I feel like I've heard the name before, but I got no clue who she is. Why is everyone makin a big deal about it?" he asked. Murmurs filled the room.

"Everybody out!" Master yelled. People froze in place. "You heard me! Scram!" The members scurried out of the room without question, until only the group of girls, Natsu, Happy, and Makarov were left. "Something is very wrong," Master muttered. He sat cross-legged at the foot of the dragon slayer's bed.

"Why'd ya make everyone leave, Gramps?" Natsu asked.

"Mirajane, I'm putting you in charge of trying to bring his memories back. Erza, you make sure that everything she says is actually true," Master glanced warningly at the demon take-over mage. She glanced at the floor sheepishly. Cursing silently, she mentally erased her already forming plan of telling Natsu he and Lucy were already dating.

"What am I missing? Is it that Lucy girl?" Natsu asked. Master ignored him.

"How are we going to fix this?" Happy asked tearfully. That seemed to snap Natsu into his fatherly act. He hugged his cat tightly, even though he had no idea what was wrong.

"I don't know yet. I'm going to let the others know what's happened. Don't let anyone say anything about this. We don't want Lucy finding out," Makarov said, making his way to the door.

"She already knows, Master," Erza called after him. He froze.

"In that case, Levy and Cana, go make sure she's okay. I can't imagine how she must feel right now." Erza would have laughed, if the situation were different. Even Master knows that the two are more than just friends, and he seems to understand that Lucy would be nearly heartbroken right now. "When you return, Levy, I want you to help Freed and start researching any and every possible way to reverse this."

"Who the hell is Lucy?" Natsu cried out, tired of being ignored and confused. Erza rounded on him, pulling a sword out of thing air and pointing it at his throat.

"And Erza?" Master questioned without turning around. "Remember that he just woke up. Try not to knock him out again."

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"I really hope Lu-chan is alright," Levy thought out loud. The normally drunk brunette beside her was still sober, probably setting a personal record for going so long without a drink. In fact, though Cana would never admit it, drinking at times like this left a bad taste in her mouth.

"Maybe now she'll admit how she feels about-," Cana was cut off by yelling and a loud splash. Curious, the two ran around the bend in the road to see a crowd of people forming around the side of the river that cut through town. A man in all black was discreetly trying to escape the scene. Levy's hand quickly wrote a cage around him, suspecting that whatever happened here was his fault. Even through the mages were in a hurry to get to Lucy's apartment, they couldn't ignore something like this.

"What happened here?" Cana asked, barging past townspeople. They moved aside for her willingly, relieved when they saw the guild crest across her stomach, meaning mages were here to save the day.

"Someone fell in! She's been down there for a while!" one woman cried, holding a hand over her heart. Two men on a gondola a little ways out on the water were carefully turning around, trying to steer to the wall.

"It's all okay, we'll help," Levy soothed, following the path Cana had made. She started calming everyone down as Cana slipped her shoes and jacket off. Without hesitation, she dove into the river and swam straight to the bottom as quickly as she could. The water was icy, but Cana paid no attention to that, too focused on reaching the stranger at the bottom.

The river was surprisingly clear the further down she got, allowing her to see right through it all. Cana mentally thanked Mavis she wasn't drunk right now; swimming would be much harder if she were highly intoxicated like usual.

The sight below froze her already cold bones. Cana's eyes popped open wider than ever. Lucy was lying on the sandy bottom, little bubbled of air escaping her lips. Her eyes were shut peacefully. The blonde hair around her head floated in the gently swaying water, making it form a halo around the top of her head.

Aquarius was just now appearing. She moved water away from Lucy's head, forming almost a bubble of clean air around her. Her face was expressionless. When she saw Cana, the mermaid pointed upwards. Their past arguments were pushed aside as they each took one of Lucy's arms. Cana flew back to the surface with the celestial spirit and her friend beside her. When their heads broke the surface, Cana spluttering for air, the men standing on the wall pulled both Lucy and Cana onto dry ground. Aquarius disappeared with a judgmental tsk, glancing back once slightly worriedly.

Levy and Cana stared in shock, fear, and outrage. Lucy's hair was now matted to the sides of her face, dirt and pebbles stuck in it. Her clothes were a dripping mess. Her chest was moving with her breath and heartbeat, but just barely.

"We need to get her back to the guild. Wendy can heal her there," Loke suggested, appearing crouched next to his master. His suit jacket was missing, his dress shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His glasses glinted in the sun, hiding the worry in his eyes.

"Wendy isn't here. She went out on a job with Charle and Romeo yesterday!" Levy said. "They're not supposed to be back for at least a few more days!" Mirajane had been so proud of her match-making skills when Wendy brought over the job paper. Macao took some (Sitri Soul Form) convincing before he let them go off on their own, but it worked out in the end.

Loke didn't hesitate to lift his unconscious friend into his arms. "We can decide what to do when we get there. The others will know how to handle this," he said, taking off back in the direction the two girls had come from.

"We should follow," Cana said, pulling her jacket over her wet shoulders and sliding her feet into her shoes. She contained the shivering inside of her.

"But what about him?" Levy asked, waving her hand towards the still trapped man in black. He was banging against the bars of the iron cage, trying to break himself out. Cana's face darkened at the reminder.

"I got it," she said with deadly calm. She stalked towards the man, pulling a card out of her back pocket as she went. He shrunk back against the other side of the cage away from her. Her hand snatched the man's wrist through the bars.

"Let the wall down, Levy," she called. It disappeared silently. The man tried to bolt, but Cana's grip was steel-tight.

"Just let me go!" he pleaded. The crowd was staring in shock at the lethal looking Fairy Tail mage.

"Do you know what you did?" she asked, venom dripping from every word. He nodded, eyes wide.

"Do you know who I am?"

"No, but please don't hurt me! Let me go!" he begged, tugging against the hand that caged his wrist.

"I am Cana Alberona, Card mage of Fairy Tail. And this-," she held up the card she was holding in her other hand. She shook out the card as if she were shaking water off of it. It elongated and twisted, turning into a long, sharp silver sword. "-is a very special card. I've been waiting for the right time to use it. My obnoxious father sent it to me from his travels." He stopped struggling, realizing it was futile unless he wanted his head chopped off.

"You are so lucky I don't have Fairy Glitter right now. Have you ever had a paper cut before?" Cana asked quietly. He nodded. "This hurts much worse, I promise."

"Please leave me alone!" he cried again, pulling the other way.

"Be glad I'm sober right now. If I were this angry while drunk, there wouldn't be a piece of you left to bring back to the guild." The man blanched. "Now walk. We have a few questions for you."

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Natsu's PoV

The door burst open, interrupting Mira in the middle of her sentence. Loke rushed in, carrying that blonde girl from before, the reason I'm in here getting lectured by the two scariest wizards in the guild. My heart shuddered a little when I saw her, but I don't know why.

Even though I don't know- don't remember- her, I still feel bad for her. She was soaking wet, and she smelled like dirty water. I can barely hear her breathing, even with my super dragon slayer hearing. I felt angry when I saw the pink mark on her hand. Whether I know her or not, nobody is allowed to hurt one of my guild mates.

But this anger feels levels above how I would feel if someone hurt Erza or one of my other nakama. I feel angrier than usual. Why am I so much more protective of this mystery girl?

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"What happened?" Erza and Mira asked, rushing over to the bed Loke had set the poor girl on.

"She fell in the river walking home. Levy and Cana are on their way back. They caught the guy that pushed her in," he explained. The front of his dress shirt was wet from the dripping girl he'd been carrying.

"We need to get the water out of her lungs or she'll suffocate!" Mira said, already running out of the room. Her red dress fluttered out behind her. Natsu sat up in his bed with wide eyes, watching the mighty Titania flit around Lucy helplessly. Even she didn't know what to do right now. Loke was sitting on the bed beside Lucy's with his head in his hands.

"Juvia will help!" the water girl said, rushing onto the room and standing over her love rival. With careful hands, Juvia was able to pull the water that was slowly choking Lucy out of her. Mira rolled her onto her side as Lucy coughed and spluttered for air.

"LUCY!" the girls shrieked. Levy ran in a moment later and joined the crowd around Lucy's bed.

"What happened? Where's Cana?" Erza asked Levy.

"We don't know! We were on our way to her apartment, and we caught this guy, and Cana jumped in the water but Aquarius was already there, and—," Levy babbled.

"Natsu…," Lucy whispered, stopping the shorter girl in the middle of her sentence. Natsu's ear perked up at hearing his name from the stranger's mouth.

"Lucy?" Mira asked hesitantly.

"Please Natsu…remember… don't leave me…," Lucy choked out of her raw lungs. Erza turned around to see Natsu's reaction, only to find him standing right there. She stepped aside to let him closer, unsure of what was about to happen.

"Luigi?" Natsu murmured, letting his hand hover an inch away from hers. As if it were a reflex, Lucy's smaller hand shot out and grabbed his as if her life depended on it. Everyone in the room was silent.

"It's Lucy, stupid," Lucy mumbled. Her eyes stayed shut. Mirajane and Erza hold only had time to tell Natsu that he's the one that brought Lucy to Fairy Tail and formed a team with her. They're best friends, and he always bothers her, and she pretends to be angry, but that's just how their relationship was. They'd just started going into Lucy's past when Loke charged in.

"Don't…abandon me," Lucy cried. Mira checked to see if she was awake. No such luck. Her eyes were firmly shut, meaning she was talking in her sleep. Natsu's mouth was hanging open in shock.

"We should go see if Cana is here with that guy," Levy said, tearing everyone's eyes away from the couple. Erza nodded dazedly.

"Juvia will come also," Juvia said, following the retreating bookworm. Mira disappeared for a moment to grab a change of clothes, shooing Natsu into the closet so she could change the unconscious blonde. When she was finished, Natsu came back out and took Lucy's hand again. Erza dragged Mira out the door, but stopped Natsu before he could come too.

"I think you should stay with her right now. Call if anything happens," Erza said over her shoulder. Natsu dragged a chair over and sat beside Lucy's bed, trying desperately to remember the beautiful crying girl that was mumbling his name in her sleep.

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While strange feeling of both confusion and protectiveness swam through Natsu's mind, a more terrifying dream was plaguing Lucy's.  
"Natsu…," she whispered to the shimmery outline of her beloved dragon slayer. "Please Natsu…remember… don't leave me…" The figure danced just slightly out of her reach, taunting her with the hopes of fire and warmth in this suffocating darkness. "Don't… abandon me." A tiny pinprick of light appeared in her vision, and she grasped onto it before there was a chance it could get away from her. The light grew bigger and brighter when she held it close to her heart, sheltering her and comforting her, warming her and protecting her.

"Natsu," she whispered again.

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"Just help me up," I said for the umpteenth time. Natsu shook his head again. He'd been holding my hand when I woke up, but immediately let go when I opened my eyes, rubbing the back of his neck instead embarrassedly. The first thing he said to me was that there was some guy outside that everyone thinks pushed me in the river, and he was supposed to stay in here in case I woke up.

My throat was still raw, and my lungs ached with each breath. I'd had worse, though.

"Erza will kill me if I help you," he said, flashing his toothy grin. "Sorry, Luigi." I suppressed a groan. What happened to Luce? Now it's back to that stupid name he gave me when we first met. There was not even the slightest hint of recognition in his eyes. All I saw was the kind look a stranger would give to someone on the street.

"If you won't help, I'll do it myself," I muttered. I pushed off the edge of the bed and stumbled my way over to the door, ignoring the complaining idiot behind me and the faint nausea in my stomach. I felt self conscious in the outfit Mira had changed me into. It was the same one I wore when I was invisible, the clothes she wore when she was a child. I have no idea how it fit me, but I figured it was best not to question it. The sooner I can convince everyone I'm fine, the sooner I can get home, change into clothes, and research ways to get Natsu's memory back.

"Mira?" I called out the door I opened. My gaze locked onto the man in all black standing in the middle of the guild. He was surrounded by my glaring and murderous-looking friends and family. When he saw me, a look of relief washed over his face.

"There you are, Lu!" I groaned at the nickname. "Maybe you can explain to everyone here that I-," he started, silenced a second later by a look from Cana.

"Lucy, you shouldn't be walking around! You're still very weak!" Mira tiptoed over, trying to push me back to the infirmary. She shot Natsu an angry look over my shoulder. However, I refused to budge. My blood was ice in my veins.

I ignored them all and walked up to the man I hadn't seen in years. He'd changed so much since the last time I saw him, but he was still recognizable. His short dark hair was spiked up, just like when we were kids. The black jeans and hoodie didn't suit him, he would have looked much better in the regal sky blue and gold that his mother always dressed him in.

"Cato?" I asked, hoping and praying it wasn't him.

"Lupee! I knew you'd remember me!" he cheered, pulling me in for the worst hug I've ever received. I kept my arms by my sides stiffly. In a second, a force cut in between us, forcing Cato to let go. Much to my surprise, Natsu was standing in front of me, extremely pissed off.

"Don't touch her," he all but growled. Does he remember me? Hope filtered into my body.

"How about you back off, pinky? You don't know her like I do. We are engaged!" Cato snapped. I rolled my eyes as far back as they could go into my head. Natsu turned around questioningly, wondering if he should still hit him. That's when I think I gave up on him ever remembering me. As Natsu stepped out of the way in response to me shaking my head, I bit back any tears. The Natsu I know would have beaten the crap out of this guy without a thought for even hinting that he knew me better than Natsu himself. I visibly deflated, although I tried to hide it from my friends.

The others, in the mean time, were swooning and whispering to each other, gasping dramatically over what Cato said. Tired, cranky, and annoyed, I smacked Cato upside the head with the front of my hand. He ducked to the ground and shielded his head with his arms.

"We were engaged when we were FOUR," I snapped. "Now why the hell did you push me into the river?"

"So you did do it!" Cana bellowed, whipping a sword out of nowhere and shoving it towards him. He fell backwards, avoiding the sharp object. Since when did Cana know how to use a sword?!

"I was trying to play tag with you like when we were little!" Cato sobbed. Snot was dripping out of his nose as he cried on the ground below me. "I didn't mean to, honest!"

Everyone in the guild sighed, including myself. I didn't expect Cato to be a part of some bigger plot; he was too much of a baby. He always has been. When we were kids, he was afraid of the dark, afraid of bugs, afraid of birds, and afraid of water. Hopefully, he wasn't such a scaredy cat now.

"Just go home, Cato," I ordered, patting him on top of the head.

"I can't! I came to marry you, just like we promised!" he said, standing back up to his full height (which happened to be a few inches taller than me, about the same height as Natsu). Mira got hearts in her eyes, probably picturing romantic promises of love we pledged to each other in secrete hideouts. Too bad there's only one guy I really like, and he doesn't even know me anymore.

Said guy jumped in front of me again, shoving Cato with all his strength. Cato stumbled back a few feet.

"She said go home! She doesn't love you!" he yelled. Silence gripped everyone. My face burned ten shades of red. Cato glared, puffing out his chest.

"How DARE you, commoner, place your hands on me?! Dearest Lucille, allow me to rescue you from these BARBARIANS...," Cato started, leaning around the pink-headed Salamander to stare at me hopefully. I didn't stop Natsu when he lit his fist on fire, holding it towards Cato threateningly.

"These barbarians are my family. I'm happier with them than anyone else in the world," I said proudly over Natsu's shoulder. Cato, eyes wide in fear of the blaze being pointed towards his face, ran to the doors, turning around to salute Mavis knows who.

"I will be back for you, Lu-moo-chan!" he swore fervently, bolting away before Cana or Natsu could chase him out. The entire talk left me even more exhausted than before. I guess nearly drowning takes a lot out of a person.

"I have no idea what just happened," Erza remarked. Others nodded as well. I tore my eyes away from Natsu's back to face the majority of the guild.

"Cato was my friend when we were little. Our fathers were friends, so they stuck us together while they worked. We had little crushes on each other, or something. We'd play house, kind of like how Lisanna and Natsu did. Now that I think about it, we even had our own Happy. She was a little stuffed monkey named MooMoo," I explained.

"So that's where the Lu-moo-chan came from," Levy noted.

"That was so anticlimactic. I was expecting a fight!" Gray groaned. Natsu was remaining unusually quiet.

"Let's get you back to bed. You shouldn't have gotten up in the first place!" Mira scolded, pushing me back towards the room with beds. I didn't put up a fight.

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Natsu's PoV

Mira and Erza forced both me and Lucy to stay in the infirmary over night, although neither of us really needed to. I was healing fine since I woke up, and Lucy was acting normal again. Well, other people were saying she was. I don't know if that's her normal or not.

When Cato was talking to Lucy about love, I felt really funny. I felt like my heart was being run over by a steam rolled. I felt like I really wanted to punch somebody, especially Cato. Why was I like that? I remember everything about the guild but her.

Before Mira left, she said she was curious about something. She asked me who I was with when I fought Duke Everlue, or the Infinity Clock. But, when I tried to tell her, things in my mind were hazy. I couldn't remember anyone who was there. She nodded mutely and disappeared, telling me to keep an eye on Lucy, who was sleeping.

A few hours later when everyone was gone (except Happy, who was asleep at the foot of Lucy's bed) and the room was mostly dark besides the light coming from the moon outside, I heard Lucy quietly get out of bed. What was she doing? Erza was going to kill her if she comes back and finds that Lucy went home in the night. And then she'd kill me for letting Lucy go home, even though I was supposed to be sleeping.

Instead of heading towards the door, however, she sat on the edge of my bed. Her scent was comforting. I heard her sigh sadly, and I wondered what was wrong. Was she sad because I didn't remember her? Still, I kept my eyes closed and my breaths even.

"I'm sorry. If I were stronger, I could have stopped the witch from taking away your memory. In a way, it's my own fault you forgot me." Her fingers ghosted over my hand. "I know you can't remember me, but I remember you. You brought me to this guild. All we had to do for my first mission was find a book and burn it, but we couldn't even do that properly. You saved me from Phantom Lord. You've saved me more times than I can count, actually.

"You're my partner, but you're so much more than that. If Mira were here right now, she'd be planning our wedding with those little hearts in her eyes she gets. She says I'll never admit how I feel about you, but how am I to know my heart? I read so many books about romance. How do I know I'm not just making things up in my head?

"After I ran away from home, Fairy Tail became my family. Having you forget me, you of all people, feels like being abandoned. I'm being left alone in a dark room, and my flame has disappeared, just like in my nightmare. I couldn't figure out what it meant at first. But you were there, holding my hand, and I realized. You're my flame. You keep me happy and sane. You're my stupid, idiotic, dense dragon slayer, and I really like you. You're more than nakama."

A tremor went through my heart. There was a beat of silence after Lucy's whispered confession, and then the weirdest feeling came over me.

It felt like there's been water in my ears and a veil around my eyes since I woke up. I've been hearing and seeing everything except for Lucy. She's been filtered out of my mind. But she's back now. I know who she is.

She's my weird, stupid, whiny, clumsy Celestial wizard.

She my worrying, protective, loyal, beautiful friend.

She's the one I've had a crush on for months.

When she slowly got up to return to her bed, I grabbed her wrist. She turned around in shock, meeting my eyes that were finally wide open.

"Natsu?" she questioned.

"Lucy."


	2. Missing

**Another oneshot for you guys! I'm currently posting this while sitting in an airport waiting for my flight to New York, so I hope you guys like this! As always, I don't own Fairy Tail in any way. Please please please, leave me a request for a oneshot! I'd love to hear your ideas!**

**Quick comment reply time:**

**Guest - Thank you! I realized while reading your comment, and even more when I went back to re-read that part in the story. You're right, I should have made them get the water out of her lungs before waiting to bring her back to the guild. Thanks for pointing this out! I'll go back and fix it as soon as I have time.**

**SimplyBirdy - Thank you so much! I wasn't sure how the spell part would go over, so I'm very glad you liked that part!**

**As always, reviews are welcome and appreciated. Check out my other stories if you have time? Ja ne, Fairies!**

"Has anybody seen Lucy today?" a concerned dragon slayer yelled into the guild hall. He was met with many no's. Mira waved him and the flying blue cat over to the bar.

"You haven't seen her either?" she asked, worry clear in her crystal blue eyes. Natsu sat heavily on the stool and slammed his head onto his arms on the counter, groaning another no.

"Natsu's worried because he lllllllllikes her," Happy trilled. Mira got hearts in her eyes once again, imagining her favorite couple in the guild actually becoming an official couple. Luckily, Natsu's red face was hidden.

"So you don't know where she is?" said embarrassed boy asked again, ignoring the heat in his cheeks. The hearts in the bartender's eyes broke, snapping her back to the present.

"She wasn't here at all yesterday," Mira thought out loud, placing a finger on her chin.

"Bunny Girl looked pretty sad when she left the other day," Gajeel interjected.

"She hasn't really been Lucy the last few days. It's like she's been a shell," Levy added.

"Was she not at her apartment yesterday morning or night?" Mira asked.

"He hasn't gone over there for more than a week," Happy said.

"Why not?" Mira asked suspiciously. Levy glared at Natsu, who was cringing and looking like he was in immense pain. Gray cut in before he could answer.

"What did you do to piss her off this time, Flame Brain?" Gray asked, joining the conversation. Surprisingly, Natsu didn't snap back at him, signaling to everyone just how worried he was about his missing teammate. Of course, he couldn't admit to anyone the reason he'd been ignoring his closest friend was because he was trying to sort out his feelings for her.

"If you haven't been there recently, then how do you know she's missing?" Erza asked, momentarily forgetting about the plate of cake in front of her, yet another surprise for the mages in Fairy Tail.

"I went there this morning to talk to her, but her smell was old. She went somewhere a long time ago, and her suitcase was missing with some clothes," Natsu explained to the crowd starting to gather.

"Well, she probably just went to visit her parents' graves in Acalypha then!" Erza presumed.

"But why wouldn't she tell someone where she was going first?" Gray asked.

"That ain't it. Somethin doesn't feel right," Natsu said, thinking especially hard. He realized, with all the thoughts and guilt swirling in his mind, that he didn't like thinking. It hurt his head.

"If you're so worried, Natsu-nii, let's go look for her!" Romeo said, standing up from his table excitedly.

"I'll go too," Wendy offered. When Romeo met her eye, they both turned away, blushing.

Soon, half the guild was standing and talking over one another, preparing to head out and look for their beloved blonde.

"QUIET!" Erza silenced everyone. When she was satisfied with the noise level, she continued. "We will break into teams of two, get a destination to search from me, and head out."

"Make it snappy, brats," Makarov said, bounding onto the top of the bar. "Just in case."

_Where'd you go, Luce?" _Natsu thought to himself.

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"Warren?" Levy asked.

"Have you found her?" Warren asked in her mind.

"No. We just checked all the bookstores in town, and she hasn't been to any of the recently, according to Gajeel's nose and the store managers. We're going to start searching in the cafes next," Levy informed him.

"All right, good luck," Warren said. Their connection was cut off a moment later.

"Where could she be?" Levy asked desperately.

"Don't worry, shrimp. She's around here somewhere," Gajeel said awkwardly, trying to comfort Lucy's closest friend. For once, Levy was too distraught to bristle at her nickname.

"But what if she's hurt somewhere?!"

"Calm down. Bunny Girl can handle herself."

"Let's hurry and find her," Lily said, walking to the side, trying not to intrude on the almost-couple's conversation.

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"She ain't at any of the bars!" Cana laughed.

"Are you drunk again, Cana?" Warren sighed.

"I just said she wa'nt at any bars!" Cana yelled.

"That wasn't my-! Just keep looking," Warren groaned in frustration, tuning the drunk out.

"Let's keep moving," Macao said, guiding Cana through the doors of the musty bar and back into daylight. She obviously wasn't too worried about the situation at hand. Either that, or she was drinking enough to keep her from worrying.

_Why did we even check here? _He wondered to himself. _Lucy doesn't drink!_

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"Lucy-san isn't here either!" Wendy wailed. She and Romeo had circled every park in Magnolia, but to no avail.

"We'll find her!" Romeo said encouragingly, effectively calming down the youngest dragon slayer.

"I hope she isn't hurt, wherever she is," Wendy whispered. Her eyes started to water at the thought of the older girl lying broken and battered in a street somewhere, wishing one of her friends could just come and save her before she-

"Wendy!" Charle barked, knocking Wendy from her gruesome thoughts. "We'll keep looking. If we don't find her, one of the other groups will."

"She's right. Lucy-nee can take care of herself!" Romeo added.

"You're right! We just need to have faith!" Wendy said determinedly, grabbing Romeo's wrist and running ahead, towing him behind her, to continue their search. Romeo blushed and kept pace with the blunette, taking her hand fully in his. The younger kids both blushed, refusing to look at each other, as they searched. Charle flew over them and sighed at the ridiculous humans.

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"She isn't out shopping anywhere," Lisanna told Warren.

"Men worry!" Elfman cried, clutching the hair on his head. His younger sister patted him on the back comfortingly.

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"Why did Juvia get stuck with you?" Juvia muttered, scowling at the street.

"You wanted Gray, but he was already with Erza," Max said. The water mage bristled at Erza's name.

"ANOTHER LOVE RIVAL IS TRYING TO STEAL GRAY-SAMA FROM ME!"

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"We just searched all the dark alleys we could find and asked people on the street. Nobody has seen her in the last two days," Mirajane noted. Laxus was silent beside her, crossing his arms over his chest.

Mira suspected that he cared more than he was letting on. Why else would he have insisted on going? Erza can't scare him into doing anything. And also, if he didn't care about Lucy, why is he refusing to give up searching until someone finds her or gets a clue?

No, Mira didn't quite understand why he insisted in going with her to search, but she was glad for the company, even if he didn't say anything.

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"Miss Landlady, have you seen Lucy anywhere?" Erza asked. The short but terrifying lady shook her head.

"Her rent is due in one week. Tell her I'll kick her out if she's late." With that, she stomped back into her own apartment, slamming the door on the two wizards.

"I guess we should go look in her room, then," Gray said, already walking up the stairs. The door was left unlocked, so they walked right in with no problem.

"That is worrisome. Wherever she went, she must have been in a great hurry. Lucy is usually a very paranoid person," Erza noted, frowning at the door knob.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Gray asked.

"Natsu may have missed something when he was here before," Erza said, plowing through Lucy's dresser drawers.

"I don't think she would've left something there," Gray muttered. He checked the bathroom, the kitchen, and the closet. Nothing seemed strange or out of place besides the missing pink suitcase she took with her.

"She left a note!" Erza said, lifting a thin sheet of paper off Lucy's desk. Gray stood beside her as they read the hastily scribbled letter.

_**In Hargeon. Don't worry, be back as soon as I can. –Lucy**_

"Warren, tell Natsu she's in Hargeon!" Erza commanded. Warren passed the information along to the searching dragon slayer.

"Stupid Natsu. How could he have missed this?" Gray asked.

"It does seem strange that he didn't see this when he was here this morning…," Erza mused.

"Didn't Happy say he hasn't been over here in a week?"

"He did. Do you suppose that has anything to do with her disappearance?"

"Maybe…"

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Hargeon. I changed my course with Happy and ran faster than I thought I could. I was the first person to leave the guild this morning when Erza gave her instructions. I've been sniffing all over town, trying to catch a whiff of Lucy's scent.

It's all my fault she's missing. If I had visited her apartment earlier instead of avoiding her, I could've noticed she was gone sooner. I could have stopped her from going to Hargeon in the first place.

Damn my feelings! Stupid Mira, stupid Lisanna, stupid Erza, stupid Levy, stupid everyone! Even Gray was in on it with them! They all told me I needed to get my feelings for Lucy straight because I was hurting her. I've spent the last week avoiding her as much as possible. I didn't want to hurt her! Why did it take me so damn long to figure out that I like her?

Now, all I can do is try to hurry and get there before something bad happens. I've had a bad feeling in my gut since I walked into the guild this morning. Something is definitely wrong.

"Natsu, how are we going to find her when we get to Hargeon?" Happy asked, flying above me.

"Don't worry. She'll be easy to spot," I assured the cat, tried to assure myself. Maybe I can catch a trace of her when we get there.

Just hang on, Luce. I'm on my way.

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"I was hoping I'd catch Salamander, but you're better than nothing I suppose," the creep sneered. We stood between the trees in the giant clearing I was informed about, staring each other down. He was doing a much better job than me at creeping the other out. He was scary skinny with dark hollows under his eyes and cheeks, standing out starkly against colorless skin. His black hair hung down to his shoulders in gross clumpy strings. It wasn't that he looked threatening, he was just extremely unnerving. Just looking at him gave me chills.

What am I even doing here? Mira told me Natsu's birthday was in a few days (why did he never tell me this?), and I really wanted to surprise him with a present to make up for all the great things he's given me. Of course, he hasn't really _given_ me anything that he knew about. They way I see it, he brought me to the guild, giving me a new family and tons of friends. He formed a team with me, giving me the confidence that I was worth forming a team with. He even gave me the ability to love again after running away from home and losing both my parents. To love him, at least.

He's given me everything, and the least I could do was give him a damn good birthday gift.

But of course, nothing can ever be easy for me. I admit, I should have told someone where I was going before I left. At least then I wouldn't be standing here with no hope of being saved.

I guess I could have told people I was leaving for a few days. Natsu wouldn't have followed me. He's been avoiding me like the Plague for the last week. Levy and all my other friends have noticed how bummed out I've been, even though I tried to hide it from them. I was hoping this present would have made him forgive me for whatever I did.

I left my apartment with a small bag I packed quickly and boarded the first train to Hargeon without thinking. I left a note, but it wasn't really descriptive at all. I spent the first day in town asking everyone if they'd heard the same rumors I had, about a red dragon sighted in the woods around here somewhere. It was halfway through the second day when someone gave me a clue. I followed it all the way to these woods, where I'm now being faced with Mr. Creeper.

And now that I think about it, the guy who told me the dragon was spotted here was equally as creepy as this guy! I cursed myself for being tricked so easily.

"My name is Lenith. I am part of the dark guild Empty Souls. You are now doomed to an eternity of horror," Mr. Creeper said in a monotone. What is it with these guys always announcing who they are before they attack?

"Did you make up the rumors about seeing a dragon here?" I asked, standing my ground bravely.

"Oh, and you're smart, too. That may qualify you to be my master's mate," Lenith assumed. I kept myself from puking into the bushes. A mate? Really?

Of course there was no dragon sighting. My hopes at finding a present Natsu would like shattered. When I set out on this trip originally, I was so confident I'd be able to follow the rumors and find Igneel for Natsu, but I guess not.

Natsu and Happy have followed tons of rumors like this. One of the rumors brought him to me, when he saved me from Bora. Why had I been so stupid to think that I could find a giant dragon, talk to it enough to figure out if it was Igneel or not, convince him I'm his foster-son's best friend, and then somehow get it to Magnolia without being killed? And what if the dragon had been like Acnologia and it killed me immediately? Way to think ahead, Lucy. Good job.

"I'm not interested. I have nothing for you. Now leave me alone," I said, turning my back in him and tramping through the leaves the way I had come. If he made up the rumors to drag Natsu here, what use could he have for me? Of course, this was another giant mistake on my part. Come on, Lucy! Why do you keep messing up so much?

Suddenly, I was wrapped in a tight embrace from behind. Lenith held me to him, keeping me from struggling. He slipped one hand under my shirt and glided the other across my chest.

"Master would like you, indeed," he murmured. I shivered in terror. With one arm still wrapped around my stomach, trapping my arms by my sides, he yanked my jacket down my arms, exposing my shoulder. He leaned forward and bit down on the right side of my neck, sending fire through my veins. He released me right after. My jacket fell to the ground, no longer being held up between us. I put a hand over my neck, frozen to the spot. What had he done to me?

"Or maybe I'll just keep you for myself," Lenith said, appearing a foot away from me in a blink.

"Where'd you come from?" I asked, stumbling back a few steps more. All I wanted right now was to be as far from that monster as possible. The bite on my neck was cooling down, but the feeling it left me with made me sick.

"I was the one assigned to capture Natsu Dragneel for a reason. Do you know what can beat fire?" Lenith asked, looming closer. I grabbed for a key on my ring. "Water."

"Gate of the Lion, I summon thee: Leo!" I yelled, slashing the key through the air in front of me.

"Roar of the Water Dragon!" Lenith called. Loke appeared and scooped me into his arms, hopping away at the last second. Another dragon slayer?

"Oh, you're not getting away that easily! Talons of the Water Dragon!" Loke jumped away again before I could get hurt. He set me down behind a tree.

"What-," his eyes widened when he looked at my neck. I tried to follow his gaze, but it was in an awkward spot. I only saw the very end of it, reaching down towards my collar bone. Why was it spreading?

"Don't move," Loke said, shaking his head to clear whatever he may have been thinking about. He vanished to attack Lenith. Why was I so stupid? At least there's no chance of Natsu finding me here. Stupid Lenith can't touch Natsu if he's at the guild with everyone else. If I'm thankful for anything, it would be that.

There was a loud yell, and then three beats of terrifying silence.

"Crashing Waves of the Water Dragon!" I was swept away from my hiding spot in the giant wave of icy water summoned from Lenith.

"If you want to be my mate, we'll need to see how tough you are first. Water Dragon's Fist!" Loke was nowhere in sight. My feet stuck in the mud beneath me, keeping me from dodging out of the way. With the impact from the punch, my feet were released with a gross sucking sound and I flew into tree after tree, breaking each in half with my momentum, until I stopped against a rock a half mile away from where I last was.

"Water Slicer!" Since when was water sharp? My arms and legs were cut. I didn't have the strength to reach for my keys. Am I going to die without anyone knowing where I was? Will I die in the same place Natsu first found me without being able to tell him how I really feel? Every mistake I've made in my life flashed in my mind.

I should have been nicer to Happy. I should have spent more time with Levy and Wendy and Cana and Mirajane and everyone else. I should have made peace with my father sooner. I should have told Natsu I loved him.

If I can just get this guy to leave Natsu alone, I can die happy. I almost laughed. That line deserves to be in my book. I used everything I had to grab the key on my belt. My arms screamed in pain and protested the movement. My head was growing fuzzy with blood loss and from whatever the hell was happening to my neck.

"Gate of the Water Bearer: Aquarius," I whispered, sticking the golden key in a puddle in front of my face, twisting as if it was a door knob. The mermaid didn't insult me when she came for once. She angrily did her job. She and Lenith were a perfect match, surprisingly. From hanging around three dragon slayers constantly, I could tell Lenith wasn't a very good slayer. A dragon would kill him in a heartbeat with no difficulty. I wonder if he was actually raised by a dragon, like Natsu and Wendy and Gajeel.

"You win this time, Lucy Heartfilia, but I will be back!" Lenith screeched like a banshee, fleeing the pissed off spirit. She threw curses after him until she was sure he was gone. What a coward.

"Stupid girl," Aquarius chastised me weakly. "What are we supposed to do if you die? Do you know how we would all feel?" The edges of the water bearer started blurring. I don't know if it was because she was fading back to the spirit world or because I was slowly passing out.

"LUCY!" someone roared. Natsu stormed into the clearing, looking around wildly for me.

"Solid Script: Guard!" Levy said, writing the word in the air with her fingers. Although nothing changed in the scenery, I knew there was now a protective barrier surrounding us.

"She's over here," Aquarius's disembodied voice called. Natsu's pained face made my heart squeeze.

"What happened?" he whispered, gathering me into his arms. I rested my head on his lap wearily.

"I'm sorry," I murmured. I saw Lily, Gajeel, and Levy crouch behind Natsu.

"What the hell could you be sorry for?" he asked worriedly. "Stop talking, we need to get you to a hospital or somethin."

"Gajeel, do you see…?" Levy questioned. He nodded with wide eyes. That made me nervous. Gajeel was always the one that hid all emotion, unless it was anger.

"Lucy!" Happy cried, flying between the trees. He buried his face in what was left of my shirt. "We were worried!"

"Salamander, see her neck?" Gajeel asked. Natsu pulled his face away from my hair and glared at him before turning back to me.

"What about her-."

"I'm sorry. I was trying to find your birthday present. I couldn't find him. I'm sorry." I stared into Natsu's rage-filled eyes until I lost consciousness.

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"…Sorry…" Lucy whispered for the hundredth time, tossing and turning in her bed in distress. Natsu, Happy, Gajeel, Levy, and Lily rushed her back to the guild after she passed out faster than what seemed possible, where Wendy treated her for the minor and major wounds she had received. The young girl could do nothing about the disgusting mark on her neck.

Although, it wasn't disgusting at all. It was actually quite beautiful. The ocean blue dragon coiled from halfway up her neck down to her collarbone. Two small dots, placed about an inch from each other, formed the eyes of the marking. Matching blue scales played on the dragon's back, made from the usual pale skin that once sat there. The sight made Natsu want to barf.

Nobody knew why Lucy kept apologizing, who hurt her, or why she was in Hargeon in the first place. Natsu was still trying to figure out what she'd meant when she said she couldn't find _him_ as a birthday present for him as he sat in the chair beside Lucy's bed in the infirmary. More embarrassingly, he hadn't remembered that his birthday was three days from now.

"Sorry Natsu…love you…" Natsu growled, jumping from his seat and pacing back and forth in front of the bed. Did she say what he thinks she just said? Did she confess to him before he had the chance to? Damn it, this wasn't how this was supposed to go!

_Can't focus on that now,_ he thought. _Need to find a way to get the mark off her, fast._

"Igneel…" That stopped Natsu. Now she was saying his father's name? What the hell was she dreaming about? The pink haired boy was standing at the foot of her bed when Erza came in with Gray and Happy behind her.

"Natsu?" Lucy's barely-there voice asked. He bolted back to her side and gave her his lopsided smile, melting her heart a little.

"You're awake!" Happy yelled delightedly, plopping down on Lucy's stomach and grinning up at her.

"How are you feeling?" Erza asked. Natsu took Lucy's hand, massaging the back of it with his thumb.

"I'm…okay," Lucy said hesitantly, testing out her voice. "How long have I been asleep?"

"It's only been a day since Natsu brought you back. Where were you? Who hurt you so badly?" Gray asked, sitting on the edge of the bed. Erza and Natsu followed suit until Lucy was crushed in the middle of her four closest friends. She saw them staring at her neck.

Was that thing still there? Lucy shivered again, remembering what Lenith had done to her body and her neck. What she didn't know, however, was that Gajeel had already filled them all in on what that mark meant. When a dragon slayer bites someone's neck hard enough to draw blood, it basically claims them as their mate. Usually, the five scales, all about the size of a pinky nail, will last a few weeks before returning back to skin. The dragon outline will sink into the neck and last forever, only visible to other dragon slayers and their mates. In the first few days, it is possible to retract the mark, but only if another mark is put there in its place. This is the time when dragon slayers are extremely over-protective of their new mates, as it's possible to steal them away quite easily.

Lucy knew none of this yet.

"I guess it's ok to say this now, since it didn't work out. I heard a rumor a little while ago about a red dragon in Hargeon. I thought it might have been Igneel, so I went to find him. I thought I could bring him back in time for Natsu's birthday. There was another dragon slayer there instead. He made up the rumors and hoped that Natsu would be the one to find him. He said his water could beat Natsu's fire. Aquarius beat him, and I was really hurt. I don't remember after that…"

"What about…?" Gray pointed at his neck, indicating the mark on Lucy's. She blushed, but not in a good way.

"He… um… grabbed me and… pulled my jacket down and bit me…" Everyone could tell there was a part she was leaving out, but they didn't force her to talk about it.

"Was he from a guild?" Erza asked quietly. Natsu's face was dark. He covered his eyes with his hair, staring down at the blanket. His grip on her hand tightened exponentially, almost cutting off circulation.

"Empty Souls, I think he said. He thought I would be a good mate for his master-," she immediately regretted her words. In a second, Erza, Gray, and Natsu's faces were beyond livid. Natsu got up abruptly and left without saying a word, storming out of the room. Erza and Gray followed him, and eventually Happy did too. Lucy was left alone with only her thoughts for company, still wondering what the hell was on her neck.

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"I made it obvious, didn't I?" I groaned, covering my face with my hands. Mirajane placed a hand reassuringly on my arm.

"It's good if he knows. Now he can just confess that he loves you as much as you love him, you can get married, and then have twenty little babies!"Mira clasped her hands together and stared at the wall dreamily, disappearing into her perfect world of me and Natsu.

"He doesn't like me like that, though," I argued. "He ran out of the room after I told him about trying to find Igneel! No wonder he's been avoiding me all week."

"Oh, Lucy, maybe we should start calling you the dense one," Mira sighed, breaking out of her trance. She patted me on the top of my head and left silently.

I stared up at the ceiling. Natsu doesn't like me. I'm nakama, just like everybody else. I'm nothing more, and I'm nothing less. Although that may not even be true now. Why had he been ignoring me? I can't think of anything I did recently that would have made him so angry.

"Get him to the infirmary!" someone shouted from outside. My heart dropped. Was somebody else hurt? I sat up and leaned against the wall so I could see better. A group of people burst into the room, surrounding whoever was injured, blocking them from my sight. Wendy was at the head with Erza, ordering people around.

"Why are you so stupid? Why did you do that?!" Erza yelled in between her orders. A sickening feeling swept through my stomach.

"Who was hurt?" I asked Wendy, who was standing off to the side while people adjusted the person around. Wendy pointed her sad eyes at me and moved forward. She quietly asked Erza to make everyone leave so she could start healing. In a minute, the room was empty besides the three of us.

The third person was…

I shouldn't have been surprised. I knew who it was before I saw him. I jumped out of my bed quicker than Happy flying towards a fish and stood beside Wendy, who was currently healing a very battered Natsu.

"What happened?" I whispered. His eyes popped open when he heard my voice. The idiot grinned at me like nothing was wrong. He still had the power, even looking like that, to smile so brightly at me and make my heart squeeze.

"I got all fired up," he laughed, although it came out sounding more like a wheeze.

"No, you were being stupid and reckless," Wendy said sharply, catching both of us off-guard. She stepped back to examine the healthy again dragon slayer. "You could have gotten yourself killed! Do you realize that?"

"Wait, what did you even do?" I asked suspiciously. If he did something bad enough to make Wendy yell at him…

"I just got in a fight," Natsu said, rubbing the back of his head. He sat up against the back of the bed. "You did good, Wendy! I barely even hurt anymore!" It was a poor attempt at changing the subject.

"He went to some guild and started beating everyone up!" Wendy cried in outrage.

"YOU DID WHAT?" I screamed at him. He shrunk back into the bed. Wendy, satisfied with my reaction, walked out of the room to give us some privacy. "What guild did you beat up? What did they do to you? How did you even have time to? You only left a few hours ago!"

"I got you a present, Luce!" Natsu chirped, pointing towards the door Wendy just left through. "Go out and see it before you start yelling!" I harrumphed and stalked away. What the hell kind of present could he get me when he was out beating up other people for no reason? Doesn't he know that Makarov is going to be pissed off when he gets another notice from the Council about fighting other guilds?  
"Fine, but that doesn't mean we're done here!" I called over my shoulder, opening the wooden door leading to the guild hall.

"Lucy Heartfilia," a familiar lanky guy greeted. He was leaning against the wall outside of the infirmary with half the guild staring at him from the corner of their eyes.

"What are you doing here?" I jumped back, ready to fight to keep him away from the already injured and weak Natsu. There was no way he'd get past me this time.

Except, Lenith looked severely wounded also. His eyes were darker than last time, and prominent patches of black and red stood out against his skin. He was standing favoring his left foot, as though it pained him to put weight on his right. This couldn't have all been from Aquarius, could it?

"Calm down. Natsu brought me here. He's actually an alright guy. Stupid Master was out of line sending me on a mission to capture him… Anyway, I came to say sorry." Lenith straightened his back and faced me full on, ignoring my jaw that was now dropped to the floor.

"Lucy Heartfilia, I sincerely apologize for the pain I put you through and all of the nasty remarks I made about you. I especially apologize for the- erm- neck incident. I hope you will get that cleared up soon. I was following false orders and shouldn't have done any of it to a pretty lady like yourself. I hope you can find a way to forgive me, but I understand if you cannot. Have a nice day, and feel free to contact me at any time if you ever need any help. Though I have disbanded from Empty Souls, I will be in Hargeon." Without a backward glance, he walked off calmly through the guild filled with my glaring friends and through the front doors.

"Lucy? You look pale; go lay down," Erza said, taking Lenith's place in front of me. I shook my head, trying to clear it of the jumble of thoughts.

"Don't let anyone in for the next few minutes," I grumbled, turning around and walking back into the infirmary. The door clicked loudly behind me. Natsu was sitting up in bed, staring at me with cheerful eyes.

"Why would you do that, you idiot?" I asked, smacking his arm when I reached him. I sat on the edge of his bed.

"Because he hurts you. Nobody hurts my friends," Natsu said. Of course. Friend. Just a friend. Nothing more, nothing less, just like I said. I cursed myself for actually believing for a minute that he- Looks like Mira will have to cancel her wedding plans already.

"You didn't have to do that," I mumbled sadly. I should have been thrilled. He was talking to me again, at least.

"Yeah I did. You got hurt doing something for me, so I had to get hurt doing something for you. They were a dark guild too, so I was helping!" Natsu argued, frowning slightly at me.

"I tried to give you a present to make up for everything you've done for me. Now we're uneven again. We always have been, but I thought Igneel might have made things a little better."

"What are ya talking bout?"

"It's nothing…" Why was I trying to explain this to him? He's always done everything for me. I just wanted this one present to be special, and I couldn't even do that much. Why am I so useless? Why couldn't I do anything right for once?

I got up to walk back to my bed, the argument I planned on starting fading away with my lowered spirits, but Natsu stopped me. He grabbed my wrist and yanked me back with all his strength. I tripped over the floorboards and landed… on top of him.

"Don't ya know what you've done for me?" he asked. I blushed, shaking my head, venturing to pull myself off of him. He put one arm around my waist to keep me where I was, causing me to jump.

"You've been there. Always." With that, he kissed me. It wasn't a long kiss, but it wasn't short either. My heart raced a mile a minute, my face was completely red, my palms were sweating from where they were pushed against Natsu's bare chest, I was nervous, I was terrified, but I was also beyond happy. I was euphoric.

Natsu

Was

Kissing

Me.

He let go after some time, staring at me with hopeful eyes. There was really nothing I could say. My head was too jumbled to come up with a real sentence that he would understand. So instead, I positioned myself so I was lying all the way on the bed beside him, and kissed him once more. I opened my eyes for a second to see him already staring at me with his black irises.

"I love you," he said. He blushed when he realized he actually said it out loud. I leaned my head back and laughed to the ceiling in glee.

"I love you too."

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On the other side of the infirmary door, there was a large crowd gathered around. Wendy stood with her ear pressed against the wooden door, listening and passing on everything the couple inside was saying. The iron dragon slayer stood in the back along with Laxus, as they pretended to not seem interested.

"I heard I love you!" Wendy whispered excitedly.

"And I hear wedding bells!" Mirajane squealed.

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"I almost forgot," Natsu muttered. We were still lying in the same bed together, relaxing and staring up at the ceiling as we talked about nothing. He rolled over so he was on top of me, pressing only a comfortable heat over my body. I blushed when I looked up into his eyes.

"I gotta fix something, so just hold on a sec, kay?" he asked cheekily. He kissed me once more and moved down, biting my neck in the same place Lenith had.

He bit _**hard**_.

I squealed when I felt his tongue trace over it. What is it with dragon slayers biting people's necks?!

He pulled away again, leaning over me with one arm on either side of my head. He stared intently at the spot he bit on my neck, smiling a moment later.

"All better!" he cheered. I pushed him off of me and got up, rushing to the bathroom a few beds down. I glanced in the mirror for the first time since before I fought Lenith.

The blue blob I spotted when I looked down earlier had turned red, and it wasn't a blob at all. It was the curled tail of a dragon, expanding from mid-way up my neck down to my collarbone. Two red dots formed the eyes. The skin of my neck that was in the area of what I assumed to be the dragon's back transformed from my normal pale color to shiny fiery red scales.

It was beautiful, but it was confusing.

"NATSU DRAGNEEL WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO ME?!" I shrieked, causing a loud clamor on the other side of the infirmary door. I stomped over, ignoring Natsu who was sitting up in the bed with a guilty expression on his face, and yanked it open with all my force to see half the guild tumbled on the floor in a big pile. They stared at me with secret smiles, obviously knowing what Natsu had done. I glared at them, not noticing Natsu walk up behind me.

"I had to get Lenith's mark off you," Natsu said calmly, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"What mark did Lenith put on me?" I cried.

"Gajeel said Lenith marked you as his mate!" Happy called. I wrinkled my face in disgust. Just the thought of being with him like that…yuk!

"YOU DIDN'T TELL HER WHAT IT MEANT?!" Gajeel, Wendy, and Laxus yelled at the same time. Natsu flinched behind me, removing his arms to scratch at his neck.

"Well….," he mumbled.

"Well?" I snapped, rounding on him. I put the full weight of my icy gaze on him.

"I…I kinda…"

"Be a man!" Elfman yelled. Him and the others all stood up and had formed a kind of half-circle around us, as we were still standing in the doorway of the infirmary.

"IhadtogetridofLenith'smarksoImarkedyouasmymateinsteadbecauseweloveeachotherandnowwecanbetogetherforever."

3…

2…

1…

"NATSU WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN YOU MARKED ME AS YOUR MATE DID YOU EVER THINK TO ASK I MEAN HELL WHAT IF I DIDN'T WANT TO BE? WHAT WOULD YOU DO THEN, IDIOT?"

Natsu's face fell. "You don't wanna be my mate?" he asked sadly. The crowd face-palmed.

"I was never asked to be your mate in the first place," I huffed, turning away. I crossed my arms over my chest, glaring at the wall across the guild. "And what's with the suddenly talking to me again?"

"Luce?" Natsu asked unsurely. He forcefully, but gently, grabbed my chin when I refused to look at him.

"Luce, will you be my mate?" he asked, holding out a small black box.

Small….

Black….

Box?

Mira's hands flew to her mouth. Laxus caught her when she tipped over backwards, out cold. Erza widened her eyes until they looked like dinner plates. Levy was jumping up and down, squeezing Lily in a deathly tight embrace. Gray was smirking, Juvia was crying, Lisanna was high-fiving her brother, Cana was raising her beer mug in the air as an invisible cheers.

"I was figuring out how I felt. I realized and went and found this. I was going to wait to ask you out and do that for a while first, but it doesn't really make much sense after all this happened."

Natsu flipped open the top of the box, exposing a shiny red stone on a band studded with diamonds in the shape of tiny stars. He slipped it onto my finger even before I whispered yes, grabbing me up in a giant bear hug, lifting me a foot of the ground. He twirled me around as every single person in the entire guild screamed and cried their congratulations loud enough for everyone in Magnolia to hear. Mirajane regained consciousness, celebrating the loudest of all.

It was officially time for a Fairy Tail wedding.


	3. Fairy Tail EN 15

**I wrote this a super long time ago, and I'm finally posting it! I know it's shorter than the others, but I promise the next oneshot will make up for it. Thanks so much to everyone who's commented, favorited, and followed the story. Feel free to leave suggestions for new one shots!**

Geez, what's taking him so long? I've been sitting here for _ages_!

The warm breeze knocked some petals off the trees around me, signifying that spring was already here, whether anyone wanted it or not. The trees varied in shades of jade and forest green in the sunlight. In my opinion, spring was the prettiest season. All the pinks, whites, and reds danced together on the wind when a particularly strong breeze rustled the branches. Red petals on the ground a few tables away made me think of my pyromaniac boyfriend. His fascination with fire was weird sometimes, and got him (or both of us, more often) in trouble. Although, I'm not really one to judge. He always takes the blame when we get caught sneaking places we shouldn't be in order to get a better view of the stars at night.

Speaking of him, my phone made a quiet chime, announcing a new text message.

'_Sorry Luce, be there soon!'_

Damn you, Natsu. How soon is soon? I frowned at my phone. At least he finally answered me. I texted him at least fifteen minutes ago, asking where he was. I, of all people, know he's not the best at being prompt, but he's not usually this late.

I bet he forgot. No, that's not something he would do. Natsu may be a lot of thing, but he never forgets a date. What else could have made him this tardy?

The little clay figures on the back of my phone jingled together when I held the phone closer to my face.

"Why is he late?" I asked for the millionth time today. The charms of Happy, Charle, and Lily didn't respond. I'd be crazy if actually expected them to. As crazy as Cana thinks I am for having three of my closest friends' cats attached to my phone.

I wonder what would happen if I just left. Would Natsu be mad? I laughed to myself. Of course he would be. But then, I'd just be even madder if he started a fight because of it. I hate fighting with him. We've been dating for over a year now, and fighting has always been an unavoidable thing.

I yell and slap and kick him when he breaks into my house with his cat Happy. He yells when I do something reckless, or something dangerous. Sadly, I'm usually the one getting mad at him. I don't think he's ever gotten seriously mad at me. On the other hand, when I yell at him for breaking into my house like a stalker, I'm not ever completely mad.

In a way, I find it sweet. He always comes in through the window, no matter how many times I beg him to use the door like a normal human being. I've gotten into the habit of just leaving my window unlocked; at least then I don't have to get up from whatever I'm doing to let him in. It's comforting to know that he actually cares enough to spend most of his time in my house with me.

But damn, where the hell is he?! Thirty minutes late, and the only thing he says is sorry, and that he'll be here soon? The least he could do is tell me why!

I sighed. I'm probably being too hard on him. He's probably just stuck in traffic, or had to stop and help someone (like he insists on always doing whenever someone needs a hand) or something like that.

With nothing better to do, my mind wandered to the day I met him. It was completely random how we ever ran into each other in the first place.

_The ocean sparkled below me. The serene scene calmed me. The sound of waves breaking against the shore combined with the fresh smell of salt water made the rage in my drop to a simmering anger. When I looked down, the great distance to the water below made me dizzy. I took a step back to prevent myself from actually falling to my death._

_Stupid Mirajane. Why'd she have to go and tell everyone that I like Loke? I made her swear not to tell a living soul, but she went ahead and did it anyway! That's the last time I ever trust her with anything like that again._

_As soon as I found out that everyone knew about my secret crush, this was the first place I immediately ran to. My thinking place. My place where I could mull over the questions in my heart and mind and take time to relax._

_Sometimes, I even bring my paper and pen down here and try to work on my book. It's just such a peaceful place. The air was refreshing. The cawing seagulls floating on the wind's kisses provided the perfect soundtrack. The view was breathtaking. Even the lighthouse on the cliff to the left was charming! There's nothing in the world like this place. And the best part:_

_No one knows about it except for me._

_Maybe she just thought she could get us together. That has to be it. Mirajane is one of my best friends; she'd never purposely try to hurt me._

_That doesn't change what she did, though. She can't change how she told everyone my secret._

_Well, there's no use sitting here thinking about it. I better just go back and figure out how to deal with this. Maybe I can play it off like a joke, or maybe a rumor that someone spread about me. That might work. At least then, if Loke finds out (or if he already knows), I can try to get out of it._

_I walked slowly down the long road lined with golden trees. Trees are so pretty. Why can't I be a tree? Then, nobody could spread stupid rumors about me. I'd stand taller than everyone else, live longer than everyone else, and even bloom prettier than everyone else._

_I was lost in through when I vaguely became aware of someone staring at me. It was just a slight prickle at the back of my neck, the way I felt holes being burned at the back of my head. I turned around to see a boy with pink hair standing in the middle of the path. His baggy brown pants were rolled up to his knees. I liked his scarf. The scaly pattern was interesting, but slightly weird. Most boys I know don't wear scarves, and the fact that it's extremely warm out. Wasn't he hot in that?_

"_What are you staring at?" I asked self consciously. The boy standing ten feet from me was actually pretty cute (when I got past how his hair was pink)._

"_I'm Natsu. Do you want to go out with me sometime?" he- Natsu- asked. My face turned fifteen shades of red._

"_I don't even know you!" I blubbered. Here I was, standing talking to some attractive stranger that was staring at me, and he asks me on a date. Although I have to admit, there was an odd feeling in my gut when I talked to him._

"_I thought that's what dates were for. To get to know each other?" he asked confusedly. I laughed out loud. This boy was adorable. He seems honestly confused on why it's weird to ask a stranger on a date! He smiled at my giggles._

"_Sure!" I laughed out. His face lit up even more with a gigantic smile._

"_Meet me here tonight, 'kay?" I nodded, finally calming down. It looked like he was about to run off again when he stopped and turned to face me._

"_What's your name?" he asked innocently. I held back the laughs this time._

"_I'm Lucy."_

I later realized that strange feeling in my guy was love. It was completely different from what I felt for Loke. I loved Natsu. After we went and had dinner that night, we were inseparable. Mirajane was angry at first because she wasn't able to perform her match-making powers on me and Loke, but had hearts in her eyes by the time I told her about Natsu.

He was also the first person I ever brought to my ocean place. It was kind of an unavoidable thing. He insisted on knowing where I went all by myself when I was angry or sad or just felt like being alone. For my birthday one year, he made a wooden sign with a picture of my dog Plue on it and shoved it in between the rocks.

Levy was happy for me. She teased me about how we could go on gigantic group dates now; her and Gajeel, Erza and Jellal, Gray and Juvia, Mira and Laxus, me and Natsu.

Erza was another case altogether. She made me swear on my life that if Natsu hurts me or does anything perverted or inappropriate, I had to tell her so she can go beat the living daylight out of him.

Why are my friends so weird?

Someone knocked on the table I was sitting at, knocking me out of my memories. I stood up and gave Natsu a giant hug, the past still fresh in my mind.

"I thought you'd be mad I was late!" Natsu laughed, hugging me back. I broke away first and sat down across from him.

"I am. But I'm happy to see you." Ironically enough, we were both wearing the same clothes we'd had on the day we met. I wonder if this was fate trying to freak me out.

"Well, it's good to see you too, Luce," he laughed again. "You're so weird. Sorry I'm late."

"Why are you late?" I frowned at him. A few minutes might be okay, but I've been here over a half hour. He's almost always been on time for a date before.

The condensation from the glasses on the table dripped down the sides, leaving little rings of water beneath them. The sun shone down brightly, almost making me regret not sitting under the big green umbrella at the table behind me. But the weather was perfect. Who could complain about a day like this?

When I looked back at Natsu, he was holding something in his fingers. Upon closer inspection, I saw that it was the Fairy Tail mark on a thin silver chain. Fairy Tail, the bar we both worked at and loved. The place that I met most of my friends, whom I consider next to family, at.

"I had to pick this up. It was ready later than I thought it'd be," he said, holding it in the air. I smiled at him. Of course he'd be late because of something like this.

"Do you like it?" he asked.

"Of course I do!" I exclaimed. The same smile that made me fall in love with him all that time ago changed his face again.

_I love you, _I thought at him.

"Now, I'm starving. Let's eat!" he yelled.


	4. Because You're Lucy

Time to answer the comments!

Guest: Glad you liked it :D

me ga mawaru: It's the 15th ending. I thought the video was adorable, and the story behind it could be interesting. Thank you!

SimplyBirdy: Thanks for the idea! I was thinking about making another part to it for a later oneshot. Sorry for typos, I thought I got them all!

Thanks for the comments fairies! I appreciate every single one of them. So keep leaving more, or maybe request a oneshot you would want to read?

"Damn it, Natsu! Why can't you just walk on your own?" I cursed. Natsu's sickly green face didn't respond. Gray and Erza were walking a few feet in front of us, carrying all of our things. Happy was laughing at the sight of my and Natsu.

Of course, the job Erza took had to be three hours away from Magnolia by train. And of course, I'm the one stuck trying to comfort the motion-sick dragon slayer. He could barely move his head off my lap when the train eventually stopped, so Erza gave me the job of helping him walk to the house of the person we're supposed to be meeting, even though she and Gray were both at least twice as strong as me.

"Why can't one of you do this?" I grumbled grumpily. It's not like Natsu's fat or anything –more like he's the opposite- but when he's a dead-weight like this, he's heavy!

"Lucy is weak!" Happy giggled. I glared daggers at the flying exceed.

"Shut your mouth before I shut it for you, stupid cat." Happy bolted ahead to fly with Erza and Gray, complaining about how scary and mean I was on his way. I sighed.

I didn't have a problem with being the one to help Natsu when he's sick. He does so much for me, this is the least I can do in return. No, what I have a problem with is the fact that he doesn't see me as anything more than nakama. I've tried telling him before, but we've either been interrupted, or I was too vague for the dense dragon slayer to understand that I was confessing. When will he realize that I like him, more than a friend?

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"He should be around here…," Erza said, glancing at the trees around us. Natsu had gotten his energy back when we passed a restaurant in town on our way to the client's house. He and Happy insisted that they could do the job better if we all had a lunch break first. Erza unwillingly agreed, knowing that the two boys would never shut up if they didn't stop and eat

The town authority told us the man we were to capture and bring back was a criminal wanted for kidnapping. He and fellow officers in the town hadn't been able to catch him due to his unusual magic.

"He said it's Mind Magic. The mage can take away your sight, or create some kind of illusion that takes the place of what you're actually seeing," he'd said. The client also said there would be men waiting the edge of the forest to bring back the creep for us. Natsu confidently told him that he would be a piece of cake.

I wasn't so sure though. Ever since we entered these woods an hour ago, I've had a really bad feeling in my gut. There was definitely something wrong here, I just couldn't tell what. Is it these creepy woods, or am I imagining things?

"Don't worry 'bout a thing, Luce!" Natsu chirped, slinging an arm around my shoulders. I forced myself not to blush. "This job'll be easy! No problems here!"

I laughed sheepishly before I heard a rustling in the leaves ahead. Erza and Gray stopped, preparing themselves for anything.

A very large man (both wide and tall) stepped out of the trees. He had long, stringy brown hair. It looked like he hadn't showered in a week. It was a strange combination, considering the nice suit he was wearing looked immaculate, like he's never worn it before today.

"My name is Crawn. How are you all this fine day?" the man asked, beating Erza to the first line. His voice was deep as thunder and slick as butter. I shivered.

"Crawn, we have been hired to bring you back to face your crimes against the town. Please surrender easily and return with us," Erza said calmly.

"See, dear Titania, I have a problem with that," Crawn tsked. "Do you know exactly what I'm wanted for?"

"You kidnap people!" Happy called. He was standing on the ground next to Natsu. Erza and Gray were beside me, forming a wall so the criminal couldn't get past.

"That's one thing I do, although there's more to it than that. You see, I'm somewhat like that Bora person you know," Crawn said, directing his gaze at me. I took a step back in shock, resting my hand over my keys.

"How did you…?" I trailed off.

"Oh, Miss Lucy, I can see into your past memories. That's one of the perks of my magic. I can see all of your memories, but I can't see what you're currently thinking, no matter how much I wish I could," he said wistfully.

"Who's Bora?" Gray asked.

"He's the bastard that almost sold Lucy and a bunch of other girls when I first met her," Natsu growled.

"Correct! Just as you have been hired to bring me back to your boss, I have been hired to bring one of you back to mine. Any guesses who?"

We glanced around at each other uneasily.

"Come now, who is the most likely here to get me a big reward? I'll give you a hint. The princess that ran away has quite a temper, especially when people break into her house. Or, just one person, I should say." The hair on the back of my neck stood up.

"You won't touch her," Natsu snarled. He used one hand to grab my hip and shove me behind him. Erza and Gray stepped closer, blocking me from sight.

"Hmmmmm, what would be the easiest way to do this?" Crawn thought to himself out loud. "I could just make you all see something different for a few minutes, but where's the fun in that? Oh, I know!" He snapped his fingers.

"Pain is my specialty, especially when it's emotional. Natsu, do you remember that promise you made to Lucy all those month ago?" Crawn asked. Natsu glared at him without speaking.

"Luce, I promise I will always protect you," Crawn said in a creepy imitation of Natsu's voice. I took another step back, away from the frightening man in front of us. What was he doing? What did that have to do with any of this?

"What of it?" Natsu asked.

"I wonder how it would feel for the poor Heartfilia girl to see the man she loves break his most important promise to her." I froze.

Natsu looked back at me with wide eyes. Oh, Mavis, no. Please tell me I just imagined with Crawn said. Did he really tell everyone that I love Natsu?

"Mind Magic: Dragneel," Crawn said. Natsu stood up straight. Slowly, he walked to stand beside Crawn. When he turned back to look at us, his pupils were gone. The usually cheerful eyes were completely black. It was a haunting sight.

"What have you done to him?" I screamed. Please don't hurt Natsu, please don't hurt Natsu.

"He's now possessed. I have complete control over his mind." Crawn laughed. "Now, my little dragon, fetch me the Celestial girl. Don't let anyone stop you. As long as she's alive when we bring her back, have fun."

"Natsu, don't do this," Erza reasoned, backing away slowly. The controlled Natsu advanced on us slowly.

"Snap out of it, Flame Princess!" Gray snapped. Natsu didn't stop.

"Get her, my beautiful puppet!" Crawn cheered. Erza immediately re-quipped into her Fire Empress Armor when she heard his words. Gray and Erza stepped in front of my, trying to keep my safe.

"My quarrel is with neither of you. Leave me the girl, and all will end peacefully," the criminal's voice came of Natsu's mouth. We're the one who're supposed to be saying that, I thought ironically.

"Never," Erza said darkly. She sprang forward, slashing her sword through the air to attack Natsu. "I do not wish to hurt you, but I will if it's the only way." Natsu stepped back easily, missing her swipe. My fingers scrambled to grab my keys, but Happy flew over and snatched the pouch right out of my hands.

"Thank you, little kitty," Crawn said. Without any of us noticing, he has also taken control of the exceed's mind as well.

"Ice Make: Lance!" Gray yelled, sending the long curved ice towards the fire breather.

"No mercy," Crawn-Natsu whispered. Behind him, the puppet master laughed to himself. Without my keys, my only weapon was Fleuve d'étoiles. It glowed to life when I uncurled it from my belt resolutely.

Within minutes, Erza and Gray were sprawled out on the ground, leaving me and Natsu standing. I was panting, but Natsu barely looked winded. Nobody could match Natsu's strength when he wasn't holding back. I flipped my wrist, letting the electric blue tail wrap around his wrist. With a quick tug, Natsu pulled the whip out of my hands when I pointed it at him and threw it across the clearing. There wasn't even a mark where it had touched him.

I can't fight him. Even when Fleuve d'étoiles was in my hands and I was going after him, it was clear to everyone that I couldn't do it. It didn't matter that this wasn't really Natsu. It looked like him and fought like him, therefore he is the person I love. I can't hurt him.

"NATSU! STOP IT!" Erza yelled. She lifted herself onto her knees weakly. I stood motionless. Happy and Crawn laughed together in the background, making this entire situation even creepier.

"Think about what you're doing, Squinty Eyes!" Gray called, leaning heavily against one of the trees. He's long lost his shirt, revealing the new cuts on his skin.

I turned around, trying to run. I should have known it would be futile. I'd only gotten five feet when I was attacked.

"Talons of the Fire Dragon!" Natsu chanted, ignoring the others. The flames hit my side, sending fiery pain down the right half of my stomach. It was as if he'd missed on purpose, like he suddenly got control of his mind and changed the aim of his hand. I fell forward onto the ground, but didn't cry out. I refused to give Crawn the satisfaction of knowing that the person I love almost killed me.

Erza and Gray got up and started fighting again with a renewed fervor, screaming unintelligibly in anger and pain for me.

"I THOUGHT YOU LOVED HER!" Gray yelled. "YOU'RE KILLING HER!"

The words went through one ear and out the other. My head was too foggy to register what Gray said. The pain was quickly overcoming my senses, leaving me writhing in agony. It felt like I was on fire. The pain was like a thousand lit matches being pressed against my skin.

"Gray, go after Crawn! If we can beat him, Natsu will no longer be controlled!" Erza ordered. The voices and sounds around me were starting to grow fuzzier as time passed on. My face was still smashed into the dirt, as I had no strength to move a muscle. My constant companion was the dragon breathing fire on my side. It could have been hours or maybe seconds later when a pink haired dragon slayer gingerly rolled my over onto my back.

"Luce…," Natsu whispered shakily. I smiled feebly up at him, slowly moving my hands to cover my wound so he wouldn't see how bad it was. He was under Crawn's influence. He didn't mean to actually hurt me. He would never mean to. He promised he would always protect me.

The pain hasn't lessened at all. If anything, it's only gotten worse with time.

"Just a scratch," I promised him weakly. Erza, Gray, and a no-longer controlled Happy stood off to the side silently, giving us a moment before we had to move out. Natsu's eyes were just as pained as I'm sure mine were, but for a different reason.

"Lucy," he whispered again. With gentle fingers, he pulled my hands away from my side. The sight made his tears overflow. I glanced down, shocked at how bad it actually looked. The entire side of my shirt was burned away, revealing the wounds. The skin around the three deep claw marks was blistered and an angry red. If there was a name for something worse than 3rd degree burn, this would be it. A little bit of blood stained the tatter of white fabric a few inches above the injury.

"Natsu, it's okay. It wasn't you," I said, laying my hand on the side of his face. His left hand came up to hold mine against his cheek.

"I'm supposed to be comforting you, not the other way around," he sniffed.

"It's fine, you can cheer me up next time," I joked tiredly.

"Natsu, we need to get her to a hospital," Erza said, setting her hand on his shoulder. He jumped at the contact. Without looking up at her, he scooping me into his arms carefully, carrying my like a princess. I winced when his hand brushed across my burns.

"Sorry," he muttered. Natsu stared down at the ground, letting his hair cover his eyes. He sped-walked ahead of the others with me. Happy hovered sadly beside and equally depressed Erza and Gray.

The heat of being cradled against Natsu only made things worse. The warmth I usually welcomed from his body was causing the pain in my side to flare up even more. I bit my tongue hard from screaming in agony. Natsu saw something in my eyes, giving him a clue as to what was happening inside of me. He bent down to lean his forehead against mine, starting the broken flaming butterflies in my stomach flying.

"Gray, take Lucy," Natsu said in a monotone, trying to hide his emotions from the others. I was passed unquestioningly to a much colder set of arms. The icy hand Natsu's rival placed on my side was like a glass of cold water in the middle of a desert.

"Natsu…," Erza started.

"Even I can tell she has a fever," he said blankly. "Let's just hurry up and get to town already."

The others picked up their pace through the trees.

"Where's Crawn?" I asked slowly. Things were starting poke into my dizzy brain.

"He's in an ice prison back there, unconscious. We'll point the authorities in the direction when we get to them. Right now, you need to get to a hospital," Gray explained. I nodded sleepily against his chest. I felt like a child, being carried upstairs to bed after falling asleep on the couch. Except, this child was in terrible pain.

"Hey Natsu?" I whispered. He looked over at me sadly. "Don't worry, 'kay? I still love you." The darkness greeted me with open arms.

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'…love you too," a strangled voice said near my head. There was a warm pressure on my hand. Using the little bit of strength I had left in me, I squeezed as hard as I could.

"Luce?" what I could only assume was Natsu's voice asked.

"How bad am I?" I asked, groggily opening my eyes for the first time in who knew how long. I flinched when the white artificial light almost blinded me. Natsu let go of my hand for a quick second, much to my displeasure, to flip the lights off before returning to his previous position.

The pain had eased up much more, but there was still a dull fire burning in my stomach. Natsu's eyes changed from the hopeful relief when I first woke up to a dull tortured sorrow.

"It's nice to see your eyes open, Miss Heartfilia," a tall woman said, striding into the room before Natsu could speak. "And to answer your question, not as well as we would have hoped."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, attempting to sit up. The pain flared in my scratches the instant I tried to move. Natsu hurriedly pushed my back down onto the bed with both his hands on my shoulders.

"Exactly that. Any person we've had in this hospital with a third degree burn would have their wounds start scabbing over by now. When we changed your bandages earlier, it hasn't looked any different at all since this man and your friends brought you here," she said. Her long brown hair was tied up in a high ponytail and the long white coat covered whatever she was wearing.

"How long have I been asleep?" I asked hesitantly. I wasn't concerned with the fact that I wasn't healing quickly; I knew these claw marks were much worse than any burn any hospital has treated before. What I was worried about was how long I've been lying in this bed.

"Mr. Dragneel, could you excuse us for a moment?" the doctor asked. Natsu didn't move, still holding my hands in both of his.

"It's okay, Natsu. I'll be fine," I smiled through the pain at him. He growled deep in his throat, holding my hand tighter. "Come on, the food here must suck. We both know how hungry you are, and I could use some decent food too. Go get something good for the both of us." Guiltily, Natsu tore his eyes from mine, gave my hand one last squeeze, glared at the lady standing at the foot of my bed, and stepped into the hallway.

"Well, he seems happy, doesn't he?" the doctor asked, taking his chair beside my bed. "Sorry, I forgot. I'm doctor Lare Keel. You can just call me Lare. I've been treating you for the week and a half that you've been unconscious."

So long…

"Just to let you know, Mr. Dragneel hasn't left your side once. A few days after you arrived, the master of your guild- Makarov? Is that his name? - came by with a little blue-haired girl. She tried healing you, but apparently it didn't work due to conflicting Dragon Slayer magics. After that, the red headed woman suggested that everyone leave so Natsu could be alone with you for a while. She was very – ahem- convincing. Although no one was very happy about it, they went back to Magnolia, even that little blue cat. Every time I've come in to check on you, he's been around you in some way."

Natsu didn't leave me… Is that what he was saying when I woke up? Could it be possible that he loves me back?

"There was even one time when I walked in at night, and he was curled up in the bed with you. He was holding you as the both of you slept. I'm positive it couldn't have been very comfortable for him," Lare laughed at the memory.

Natsu…

"Anyways, now to give you some answers." Doctor Lare stood up and circled around to the wall of monitors beside me. "I heard that you were burned by Mr. Dragneel. If he were using all of his force on you, there burns would have been much worse. They're terrible now as they are. As I said before, most burn victims would have their wounds starting to scab over by now. Your burn is completely different. I has barely changed."

"I want to see it," I blurted out. Now that my mind was working properly again, more questions were surfacing, most of them only Natsu could answer.

Without answering, Doctor Lare stepped to the side of my bed. With precise but careful fingers, she pried the taped on gauze away from my side. I winced again. What I saw was…

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The three now faded scars were still there.

It doesn't matter how long I've had them. I'm always still a little shocked to see it. The raised white lines blended in with my already pale skin, but they were still noticeable, just barely.

It's been a few months since the accident. When Doctor Lare fist peeled off my bandage, I was horrified. The skin around the slashes was burned and starting to peel away. The cuts looked raw and red. It almost made me cry… Actually, I may have started crying. I don't really remember anymore. After seeing my reaction, which she wasn't really shocked at, Doctor Lare put a fresh bandage over it, told me that I could leave in about a week, and, and left, letting Natsu back in.

The second Natsu was standing beside me, he dropped the bag of food, leaned down, and kissed me. If the heart monitor had been hooked up to me, nurses would be rushing in within a second at the spiked beats.

"Don't ever die on me," he whispered roughly when he pulled away. I was too dazzled to respond. My first kiss… to my best friend/ teammate/ secret crush for years.

And it was one hell of a first kiss.

"Just don't leave me," he said, gathering me into his arms. It hurt to sit up against him, but I didn't let him know. It felt too good to be held by him.

"I love you," I said in his ear almost silently. To my surprise and delight, he said the exact same thing back.

We left the hospital four days later, when they burn had just started to heal. It hurt to walk, but Natsu helped me. When we got back to the guild, everyone flitted around me, trying to help in any way they could. Natsu stood by me the entire time, keeping one arm over my shoulder. Mirajane fainted multiple times that day. When night time came, he and Happy flew in through my window.

They've spent the night almost every night since. Now, as I stood in front of the full length mirror in my bathroom examining the claw mark shaped burns in my side, Natsu pounded on the door.

"Lucyyyyyyyy, come out! I'm boredddd!" he whined. I stopped myself from snapping at him to go back to his own house then. Hey, habits are hard to break! I pulled my shirt down and walked back into my room, where Natsu had proceeded to collapse onto my bed dramatically.

"Where's Happy?" I asked, plopping down next to him. He pulled me after him and readjusted us so I was leaning against his right side with our backs to the wall.

"He's still at the guild with Lily and Charle," he replied.

"I wonder if he's going to try to give that giant fish he caught to-," I started.

"Why do you love me?" Natsu asked suddenly. I was taken aback at his question.

"Wh-What do you mean?" I asked.

"How can you love me when I did this to you?" Natsu asked, winding his arm around my waist so he could set his right hand on my scarred side. What brought this on? Natsu wasn't one to talk about feelings like this.

I couldn't help it. I laughed. I laughed long after Natsu's pouting face told me he meant it as a serious question. It was just such a ridiculous one!

"S-Sorry!" I chuckled. I controlled my breathing again and tried to calm down enough to face his serious and slightly annoyed expression. "It's just… you're so stupid sometimes!"

Now he looked a little hurt. Damn, I didn't mean for it to come out like that!

"It's just, that question is stupid. Why do I love you? I love you because you're my stupid, moronic, flame headed, annoying, obnoxious, loud, temperamental, juvenile…" Natsu's face got sadder and sadder with each word I said. "—loving, caring, wonderful, most considerate person I know. I love you because you take care of me, eat all of my food, break into my house, and annoy me to death. It's those little things you do that make me happy.

Natsu's face broke into a giant grin. He crushed me to him and gave me one giant, drawn-out, loving kiss. He tugged on my lip with his pointy teeth when he pulled away.

"Now it's your turn. Why do you love me?" I asked him, praying that my face turn a normal color again. He tapped his chin for a second, trying to come up with an answer. Finally, he smiled.

"Because you're Lucy."


	5. A New Life (Part 1)

**TRIGGER ** **WARNING.**

**Ok Fairies, it's time for my first song one-shot. I love the songs that have stories in them, and that's exactly what this one is.**

**The song is 'Concrete Angel' by Martina McBride. I've definitely twisted this song a bit, so it won't be exactly like the lyrics. There will always be someone who will criticize the story for how I portray Jude Heartfilia. I have many theories on him, and I write him differently every time. So please, leave the comments about how 'he would never do this' and 'he isn't like that' out of any reviews you may make, please and thank you!**

**This story came out SO SO much longer than I thought it would, so I'm splitting it into two parts. The next one will come out in a few days!**

**If anyone ever needs to talk, I'm a great listener 3**

"Goodbye, Papa," I whispered, tip-toeing silently out of the house, closing the door carefully as to avoid making noise. I walked down the sidewalk, humming a quiet tune to myself. I didn't let my mind stray from the path I needed to take to get to the new school I'd been enrolled in. According to the pamphlet, Fairy Tail Academy was the only private school in this town, with a population of 53. The courses were intense for those who signed up, but Mr. Makarov promised that this was the best school in all of Fiore. Better than Sabertooth Academy, Blue Pegasus Preparatory, and Lamia Scale Academy in the neighboring towns.

The sun was just starting to peak above the tree line up ahead, illuminating the pink and white cherry blossoms still attached to the trees. A few cars were just starting to drive past at the early hour, ready to head off to work. Most paid no attention to me walking down the street so early in the morning, but one in particular slowed down. There was no time to see inside the window clearly enough to make out any features other than dark red hair before it sped up.

This town of Magnolia was so much smaller than the city I had lived in for the past three years. The people seemed nice enough when I wandered around town yesterday, and tiny little shops lined the streets. There was a large public school a few miles south of where my home was, but Papa had refused to let me go to school with 'common folk'. Personally, I couldn't care less where I went. Just as long as I could get out of the house for the majority of the day.

My bag beat against my leg with every step I took. It was much too warm in this school-issued navy blue blazer. Most girls would end up taking it off at the soonest opportunity, especially this late in the spring, but I couldn't. The white collared shirt underneath was short sleeved, and showing my arms would draw way too much attention.

An hour of walking later, after the sun was fully in the morning sky, I stopped in front of the school for the first time. My feet dragged me through the path lined with trees, leading to the iron gates of my new school. If this was a school full of stuck up jerks, I'm going to go insane. It's bad enough I was raised around those kinds of people. I don't want to have to deal with them every day for the rest of my high school years.

On the arch in front of the main yard at the end of the path was a large stone panel with the Fairy Tail Academy crest inscribed on it; the same one on the pocket of my blazer. I stepped through, gasping at the sight in front of me. For such a small class, the school was massive. The gigantic wooden school building rose up in the middle of an even bigger courtyard. It was gorgeous in every way. However, no matter how beautiful the school was, I was not looking forward to this new start.

Of course, as luck would have it, this first day happened to take place on July 7, the day my mother died 3 years ago. I bit my tongue to keep from sighing. Deep in my heart, I couldn't stop the sadness that sprung up like flowers in the spring. This day came up at the same time every year, and I'm always just as helpless to the gloomy feeling that filled me.

There were some people milling about the courtyards in the time before the bell rang. A red-headed girl was standing in the shade of one of the large cherry blossom trees talking to a boy with blue hair. A trio of white-haired students sat on a bench beside the stone stairs.

I climbed the 25 steps that led to the large double doors of the academy, which I stepped into nervously. Small groups of people standing by the lockers stared at me in confusion. In a school this small, everyone knew everyone. It wasn't every day they got a new student.

I followed the twisty hallways, locating the number of my classroom the instant after the bell rang and all the doors around me were shut. I knocked on the door timidly. A moment later, a large man filled the doorway. His slicked back hair and torn coat didn't give him the same appearance as the tutors I'd had for years, but this man was much too old to be a student.

"So you're the new one," he said warmly. "My name is Gildarts Clive, but you'll find that most of the teachers at this school prefer to be called by their first names. Come in, come in!" Gildarts ushered me into the room where I was met with 11 sets of eyes. How were the classes so small when the building was so huge? "Introduce yourself."

"Ah, hello everyone. My name is Lucy," I said, bowing to the class quickly. I stood back up and saw strange expressions on the faces of my peers. I cursed myself mentally. Students of the same age don't need to bow to show respect!

"Welcome Lucy! You can take that chair over by the window. We have a big test today on astrology." As I was about to take the steps that led to my new seat, a boy's words stopped me.

"But Gildaaaaaaaarts," someone whined. "Tests are so hard!" My eyes wandered over to the boy. His playful grin was the first thing I noticed.

"Oh, shut it. Let's make some introductions first, and then we'll start. Lucy, the first thing you'll learn here is that everyone is nakama," Gildarts said to me. "Everyone is friends with everyone. Let's start at the front. Give your name and who you are!"

The same redhead that I saw this morning stood up. Her steely eyes stared at me warmly, yet her monotonous tone gave me the chills. "My name is Erza Scarlet, student president. If you have any concerns, please come to me. I believe we will be good friends." She offered a small smile at the end.

"Hullo Lu-chan! I'm Levy McGarden, and I love to read!" a bubbly blue-haired girl said, standing as Erza took a seat. I would have loved to be friends with her. And Erza too, for that matter. But having friends meant being asked questions I can't answer. It's better to avoid them. Ironic that my worst fear is being alone, isn't it?

The desks were arranged to fit 4 rows of 4 desks, each separated with about 2 feet of of the only empty desks, which would soon become mine, was in the back corner beside a pink-haired boy.

The students continued on down the rows. Lisanna, one of the white-haired girls I saw this morning. Warren, who claimed to be telekinetic. Cana, who slurred her words and failed to hide a flask under her desk. Freed stood and bowed slightly like I had, talking about how he was fluent in dead languages. Bisca, the second green-haired person in the class, said she loved to hunt. Laki said she was here to study wood-working. I was just beginning to think that I was in a school with somewhat-normal people, until the last three students ruined that idea.

A boy name Loke Star told me I was beautiful, causing me to blush in shock.

"Excuse him, he's a playboy," the dark haired boy beside him said. "I'm Gray Fullbuster, and I'm friends with this idiot for some reason." He jerked his thumb in the direction of Loke, who was rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "It's nice to meet you."

"Excuse HIM, he's a stupid stripper," a kid next to him said. "Hiya Luigi, my name's Natsu Dragneel!" The final student in the class leaned back in his chair in the back of the class beside Gray. I couldn't help but notice the bright grin that took up his entire face. I was about to correct him when Gray spoke up.

"Shut it, Flame Head! And her name is Lucy!" he said, smacking the back of Natsu's pink head. I held back a giggle at their fight.

"Who you callin Flame Head, stupid?" was Natsu's excellent rebuttal. He shoved his chair back and stood beside Gray. They comically butted heads.

"You, idiot! Who else?"

"Just shut it, Ice Princess!" Did this kind of thing happen every day? None of the students seemed shocked. Instead, they were laughing. I looked to the teacher with wide eyes, waiting for him to break them up, but he was leaning against the wall, watching the scene in mild amusement.

"Don't tell me what to-,"

"STOP IT NOW! You're scaring Lucy!" Erza snapped. She stood and faced the fighting duo, crossing her arms over her chestplate. I felt bad for the two, who now had their arms around each other and were grinning.

"N-No, Erza! We're best friends!" Gray stumbled. Natsu nodded along happily.

"Good. Now apologize," Erza ordered. She waited until they both had stuttered out a sorry to me to sit down. Natsu and Gray collapsed into their seats, shooting glares at each other continuously.

"Well, there you have it Lucy. These are some of your new classmates. Now that that's out of the way, on with the test! Lucy, you can skip this, since you haven't been here for the lessons," Gildarts said.

"Thank you, Mr. Clive, but I'd like to take the test," I murmured, to the shock of the class.

"Just call me Gildarts. A-Are you sure? You don't know any of the material…," he asked.

"I'm sure," I responded, walking to my seat. I ignored his name correction. Papa said it wasn't respectful to call teachers anything other than Mr. or Ms.

"Alright…," he said unsurely. I heard the murmurs of students as they looked at me. I felt Natsu staring at me with interest. I got out a pencil and waited as Mr. Clive quieted the class and handed out the tests. I started mine right away eagerly. Space was my forte. My mother had been one of the greatest astronomers in history. She taught me all about the stars before she…

I coughed quietly. When I was buying the required texts for my classes, I saw that this class was using the book Mama had written. I knew it from cover to cover, forwards and backwards.

Mr. Clive wandered up and down the aisles of desks, checking to see how his students were doing and preventing anyone from cheating. He hesitated beside me, but continued on to his desk. I felt his eyes watching me from his chair. I happened to glance down and quickly pulled the sleeve of my blazer down, cursing myself for not noticing it ride up in the first place. For living such a sheltered life, I'd picked up quite the extensive vocabulary from Papa's angry yelling. The purple blemishes disappeared under the cloth.

I prided myself on wearing the perfect mask. I can be the silent girl that doesn't cause a ripple. I'll be as kind as I can to everyone, but I can't take on any friends. I'll be politely detached, just like I was at my last school. Back then, most people got the notion that I didn't talk much, so most people didn't talk to me to begin with.

On the inside, however, I was crumbling. Ever since Mama died, it's been just Papa and me. We stayed in our estate for a while, but then moved closer to his office in Crocus. I was enrolled in a public school for the first time, until I ran away. I was gone 2 months before I was discovered. We moved again, and he enrolled me here.

I take care of myself and try to stay out of Papa's way. It doesn't matter how hard I try. I can never be good enough. My father, unable to deal with the grief of losing mom, takes out his anger on me, resulting in loud screaming and silent abuse. There've been a few days, after particularly nasty attacks, that I wish I'd never been born.

What child feels like this? I don't think I deserve this. I've never done anything really wrong before. It breaks my heart every single day when I realize how afraid of my home I am. It's a hateful place, a place I'd gladly never go back to again, if I had the choice. It's not like I can run away again, either. It'd only be a matter of time until i was discovered again.

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Lunch was already my least favorite part of the day. Having to find a place out in the courtyard to eat alone while people all around me laughed and talked was a form of silent torture. With the weather this nice, nobody was eating inside. Considering I had no idea where the library was, I couldn't escape there to silently eat. I slipped invisibly past the other students and stole a stone bench underneath a large blossoming tree. A few pink petals chased the wind through the air.

Oh, Mama. What I would give to see you again. I don't know what to do about Papa. Please just turn back time. All I want is for you to spend time with me. We could sneak out late at night and look at the stars again, or spend the days reading side by side in the study. Anything.

I was just pulling an apple out of my bag when there was a loud thump beside me.

"Sup Luce!" Natsu said. The thump was him dropping his bag onto the ground behind me. I jumped at the sudden proximity, tugging on my sleeves out of habit. The nickname made me smile. Finally, someone who didn't treat me like a freak. At the public school I had attended, everyone know about the money Papa had. They all gave me a wide berth. Nobody wanted to get involved with the 'princess'.

"Hi," I said quietly, scooting to the side to make room for him. I forced the sad thoughts of Mama out of my head.

"Erza is at some student meeting, and Boxer Queen has to clean the classroom for accidently stripping again. Plus, you look all lonely over here! The new kid shouldn't be alone on their first day!" Natsu explained. He pulled out a huge container of something that looked delicious.

Someone was _talking _to me! It doesn't even matter that it's too difficult to have any friends; just him talking to me of his own free will made me smile stupidly. Nobody knew my last name, so nobody knew whether I had money or not. Would it matter to them if I did? I know some people attending this school were here on scholarship. Were they shunned by the rich population?

"What're you smiling at, weirdo? And where the rest of your lunch?" My smile faltered a tad. I was being weird already?

"Ehhh, I'm not really hungry," I said. Truthfully, I didn't have time to pack a lunch this morning, and I didn't have any money on me to buy anything. That may sound ridiculous to some, because the Heartfilia business was a massively successful one. But that was Papa's money. I didn't see any of it, and I didn't want to. I didn't want any part of his riches. A moment after my words, a loud garbling of my stomach gave me away. I looked at the ground in embarrassment, but Natsu just laughed.

"Now you really are weird! Here, take some of mine." He offered his box to me, along with an extra set of chopsticks that he pulled out of nowhere.

He was sharing his lunch with me? I didn't understand. Why would he share with someone like me, someone that wasn't even his friend? I was just a stranger. His happy eyes were staring at me now, waiting for me to take a bite. I did hesitantly, fearing the repercussions for doing so. I probably would have refused his offer, but the encouraging look on his face kept me from doing anything other than accepting.

"Thank you so much," I whispered. I popped the chicken slathered in red sauce into my mouth, chewing thoughtfully. Within a second, I realized this was a terrible idea. Little tears overflowed my eyes, causing Natsu to panic.

"Oi, oi! What are you crying for?" he asked, fluttering his hands around helplessly. I couldn't speak. The sheer pain my tastebuds were currently experiencing kept me from making a sound. I could only point as someone stormed over, giving Natsu no time to prepare for the coming impact.

"NATSU!" Erza roared, smacking him on the back of the head. He fell off the bench and held his head in pain, one hand still supporting the demonic lunch. "WHY ARE YOU MAKING PEOPLE CRY?" She calmed down slightly at his loud groaning, taking his seat. I was her next victim. She crushed my head into her chest, giving me the most painful hug of my life. She'd lost her blazer, like most of the girls outside had.

"What was that for?" Natsu asked groggily, rubbing the lump on his noggin. He sat up, leaning against the base of the tree.

"For making Lucy cry," Gray said, strolling over. His hands were shoved into his pockets. My eyes widened and my cheeks darkened at his lack of a shirt.

"Gray, your clothes," Erza said, releasing me. This was beyond strange. First Natsu, but now his whole group of friends? They were all so odd! Erza, who gives head-shattering hugs, Gray, who apparently strips, and Natsu, who shares lunch with a stranger! Not to mention his pink hair and scaled scarf! All of this, coupled with the intense fire in my mouth, caused me to scoot backwards on the bench, accidently falling onto the ground on my bottom. This was too much to handle! Gray and Natsu had started arguing again, but Erza was becoming more and more distressed by the tears still coming from my eyes.

"What did he do, Lucy? Why are you still crying?" Erza asked. Gray and Natsu froze and looked over.

"The cards are saying you're all idiots! Can't you see she's crying because she's afraid of you all?" Cana Alberona asked, hefting me up from underneath my arms. She'd snuck up behind me at some point.

"Lu-chan, I didn't know you were so cute!" Levy said, appearing out of nowhere with a stack of books pressed to her chest. I could feel my face getting redder and redder as time went on.

"We're sorry for scaring you! Please stop crying!" Erza pleaded. "You can hit me if you want to feel better!" I shook my head, pointing at the container that was still in Natsu's hand. One by one, the crowd of people understood my reaction. Their faces dropped in shock.

"You mean the Tabasco Freak actually shared his lunch?" Gray gasped.

"You mean you ate some of his fire chicken?!" Cana asked.

"SOMEONE GET HELP! LU-CHAN IS BURNING!" Levy shrieked. Sweat was starting to form on my face. Even though I'd swallowed the chicken a few minutes ago, the spiciness was still fresh on my tongue, burning just as much as it had the second it entered my mouth. The burn now continued down my throat, sending fiery waves through my body when I breathed.

"Water!" Erza commanded. Everyone immediately dug into the bags, shoving their water bottles at me. I gratefully sucked down all the water I could, until I could finally breathe peacefully again. Natsu stood in the background, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Th-thank you all!" I said emotionally. People just as kind as Natsu had saved me from possible doom-by-spice.

"You're welcome! Now that we're all friend, we should hang out after school today!" Levy said excitedly. We're friends? I couldn't tell if this was a good thing or not. On one hand, I'm sure these people would make the best of friends in the world. But on the other, friends meant personal questions and trust. Could I leave myself wide open like that? Her face fell a moment later. "Oh… but I have to help in the library."

"I have to clean my room, or no training for me," Gray said. Sitting in the grass in front of my, he leaned his head back on his arms. "I snowboard competitively," he said to me as a side note.

"I could, but I'd have to cancel-," Erza started, staring up at the sky in thought. I took the chance to jump in.

"Oh, no! Please don't change plans because of me! I was just going to… go home! Yeah, I have to go straight home after school!" I babbled, thinking of a quick lie. Actually, I wouldn't be going home until the sun started going down, but I couldn't tell them that. The bell rang again, signaling the end of lunch period. My companions grabbed their bags, accepting my lie easily.

"What class do you have next? I'll walk with you," Erza said.

"Luce was my friend first! I'll walk with her!" Natsu said, pouncing from his position in the background. He grabbed my wrist and sped away, abandoning everyone in the courtyard.

Did he say friends?

Once we were walking down the halls, he slowed down and started talking. "Geez, we didn't even have time to eat lunch!" Natsu grumbled. "You have Macao next, right? He's so boring sometimes. I hear his son is cool though." He didn't leave time for me to respond, just kept on talking. "Why did you take that test this morning? It was so hard, and you weren't even here for the lessons!"

" I love astronomy," I said. Something on my face must have looked funny, because Natsu's grin grew when I spoke.

"Really? What's so great about it?" he asked. Though he stared at the ground as we walked along, I saw him peeking out of the corner of his eye to watch me.

"Everything! It's so amazing that there are billions of other galaxies and stars out there! I love the stars the most, like the constellations and their stories! It's a little silly, but when I was younger, Mama and I would lie out under the stars every night and tell the same stories about every single constellation. There are some that don't have legends with them, so I would make some up because I felt bad for them. The stars became my best friends!" This is what I needed. Instead of focusing on the anniversary of her death, I should be focusing on the good memories we had!

"Your mom sounds great."

"She is!" My slip of the tongue made my eyes dull. "I mean, she was. She was the best known astronomer in Fiore. She wrote the textbook we're using in class.

"That Layla person?" Natsu asked in shock. I sent up a silent prayer that he didn't remember her last name. I didn't want to open that can or worms yet.

"Yeah. She died a few years ago." Natsu dropped his arms and stopped, facing me head on.

"Luce…," he started. I walked ahead, biting my tongue. I've said too much. I shouldn't have even brought Mama up. Natsu snapped out of it when he realized I wasn't going to stop and hurried to catch up with me.

"So, you live with your dad then?" he asked.

"Y-Yes. Just P-Papa and me," I stumbled, anxiously tugging on my sleeves. Natsu pretended not to notice that, or the glassy look in my eyes. "What about your parents?"

"Well, my dad went to fight overseas when I was five. He came back 3 years ago today for the last time, and now he works as a cop! He got married to Grandine, who already had a daughter. She used to be a doctor, but stays at home to take care of us now. She's got Wendy already following in her footsteps." How ironic. The day he got his father back was the same day that my life was shattered.

"In that case, do you want to be a police man like your father?"

"Eh, I don't know what I want to do. Maybe travel the world. I love meeting new people, so that would be awesome."

"That sounds like so much fun!" I turned to him. "Can I go with you when you leave?"

Natsu looked quietly shocked for a minute, then a large smile possessed him. "'Course!" We stood like that, grinning at each other like idiots, until Natsu suddenly coughed and looked away. "So, this is your class, right?" I glanced at the door next to me, distracting myself from my suddenly blushing cheeks.

"Oh, uh, yes. I guess I'll see you…?" I ended with an almost question.

"Yeah! We'll hang out tomorrow for sure!" I walked him jog away before walking into Mr. Conbolt's classroom with flushed cheeks. I decided that I liked this strange beating in my chest.

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Three weeks into her new school, and I haven't run away yet. It was a large accomplishment in my books, and it's all because of these insane people I now call my friends. After months of isolating myself, protecting myself from the questions that would certainly come with people getting close to me, I'd finally let a group of people in. It's been the best month I've had since the day Mama died. Every day at lunch and in my classes, I've had people to sit with and laugh with.

I've even hung out with everyone after school nearly every day. Not only was I accepting people as my friends, I was also willingly hanging out with them every chance I could. We went to the movies, got lunch after school, hung out in the park until the sun went down. When we couldn't all get together, I would go to one of their extracurricular activity meetings with them. I was greeted as a friend by everyone in the clubs, and made to feel right at home. There was fencing and president meetings with Erza, cross-country with Gray, and boxing with Natsu. I had my future read by Cana, read books with Levy, and tried on clothes with a wonderful girl named Mirajane, who'd introduced herself on my second day of school. She was Lisanna's older sister in the grade above ours. It was so fun, and I looked forward to seeing all of them every day, including weekends.

The best and worst part about getting home late, though, was my father. I was glad I didn't have to spend as much time alone in the cursed house, wallowing in self-pity and fear. But on the nights I got home later than Jude, I regretted it immensely.

There was one downside to having friends like Erza, Gray, and Natsu.

They were very open people. They talked about everything imaginable together; complained about their parents, spoke excitedly about upcoming trips they were taking, unleashed their fears about anything. I couldn't do any of that. If I complained about Papa hitting me, he might be taken away and arrested. The only upcoming trip I could even plausibly imagine is one to the emergency room. My fears were dark and depressing, and I couldn't share any of them without giving everything away.

I knew they wouldn't pry into my life. They ask questions sometimes. "Lucy, when do you have to be home by?" "Lucy, why are you wearing long sleeves? It's so hot!" "Lucy, isn't your dad coming to pick you up?" I'd carefully avoid the truth each time, instead asking my own questions. I played it off casually enough, but I knew my friends suspected something strange about my excuses. There was nothing I could do about it. I just prayed that they never decided to act on their suspicions.

In these short 21 days, my friends have become extremely overprotective of me. It seemed like they sometimes saw me as a porcelain doll, which bothered me to no end. Whenever someone in public gave off a bad vibe to Natsu, he would sling an arm around my shoulders and guide me away. If it looked like a students from a different school was bothering me, Erza would threaten their life with her superior fencing skills. If I wasn't eating enough at lunch, Gray gave me some of his food. I appreciated everything they did for me so much, but the guilt and frustration was gnawing at my brain whenever I thought about it. I could handle myself just as well as any of them could. Well, not fighting-wise, but in all the other ways.

Oh yeah, and I'd developed a crush on my pink-haired best friend.

"Hi Natsu!" I waved as I made my way to the tree he was leaning against. We were just outside the gates to the school after the final bell. It was the first day everyone was actually busy, and for things I couldn't tag along with. Erza went home with a to-do list a mile long to prepare for the cultural festival, and Gray took the day off for a snowboarding competition. Natsu didn't have practice after school, but he had to go straight home and do chores. I was not looking forward to spending the afternoon in my empty house, fearing the moment I heard Papa step through the door. If he came home tonight, that is.

"Hey Luce! Is your ride here?" Natsu asked now, pushing off the rough bark to walk beside me down the pink and white tree-lined pathway to the street. He said earlier he would at least walk me out after school today, since he couldn't hang out.

I considered telling him I walked home, but reasoned against it. there would be too many questions to dodge that way. "i ride the bus home, but it doesn't leave for a while," I said cautiously.

"Cool." We walked together in a comfortable silence. A black car honked from the curb when we made it through the grove of trees and out to the street. The window rolled down to reveal a man with fiery red hair and dark sunglasses in the driver's seat.

"Hey Pops!" Natsu called.

"Hey. Who's this?" Mr. Dragneel asked, eyes zeroing in on me. Even though I'd hung out with Natsu and the others countless times, I'd never actually met any of their parents. We always either hung out at school or somewhere in public.

"Oh, this is Lucy. Luce, this is my dad," Natsu introduced.

"Hello, Mr. Dragneel," I murmured shyly, staring at the ground in front of me as I quickly executed a respectful bow. I cursed myself for my knee-jerk reaction to meeting new people. Papa had told me countless times to be respectful to adults and peers when meeting them for the first time. I'd had countless times of practice from the grand parties he throws. The older man chuckled at me.

"Just call me Igneel. So you're the famous Lucy Natsu always talks about, huh?" I glanced at Natsu sharply. He'd been talking about me to his police officer father? Natsu blushed at the sidewalk.

"I talk about all my friends." Igneel's mouth quirked slightly. For the wrong reason, my eyes fell a little at the word 'friend'.

"Is your ride here yet, Lucy?" Igneel asked, changing the subject.

"She rides the bus home," Natsu answered for me.

"Well, do you want us to drive you? I don't have to be at work until late tonight, so we have plenty of time," Igneel offered. I was prepared to politely decline his offer, but the excited look on Natsu's face made me hesitate.

Would it be a terrible idea to bring a cop to my house? Yes. But he didn't know anything. As long as I don't give anything away while in the car, my secrets should still be safe. And just in case, I'll give them the street beside mine, and I can walk from there to my house.

"Yes please. Thank you very much." I climbed into the back seat alone while Natsu took the front seat beside his father.

"So, why do you ride the bus? It doesn't seem very safe for a pretty girl your age to ride that. All kinds of creepy people take the public transportation," Ignell asked as he started the car. We took off down the street at a slightly illegal speed, heading towards the road I pointed him to.

"My father works a lot, so he can't pick me up," I answered automatically. It wasn't completely a lie. He does work, although if he wanted to, he could easily pick me up from school every day. The school was only a few blocks down the street from his office, and their home a few miles from there.

"That's a shame. What does he do?" I saw Natsu glance back at me. I realized, with a jolt, I'd never told any of my friends what Papa does.

"Well, he has his own company," I said evasively. Natsu recognized this manner of mine and tried to tell his dad silently to stop questioning me.

"Really? what company?"

"...Heartfilia Konzern," I relented unwillingly.

"You're Jude's daughter?" Igneel gasped, staring at me through the rearview mirror. The car swerved into the other lane in his lack of concentration. Natsu yelling got him to steer back into position, only earning a few honks and my heart attack in the process. This man was a cop?

When Igneel carefully glanced at me in the mirror again, the spark of recognition that had been hiding in his eyes jumped out. He knew something about my family.

"Y-Yes," I said. I did not like the fact that he knew Papa.

"How did you get here? Last I heard, your family lived in Crocus," Igneel slyly asked.

"A-Ah, he decided a change of scenery would be good. He's good too. Everything is all good!" I babbled nervously. I screamed mentally. What the hell was my problem? Way to make it obvious that you're lying, Lucy! Natsu looked over his shoulder at me, worry and confusion in his eyes. He'd never seen me this frazzled before.

"I was friends with your mother. I was at her funeral. You've grown so much since then, Lucy," Igneel said. I gasped. He knew Mama? How was that possible?

Natsu cut in and chatted happily about nothing to defuse the tense mood in the car. Igneel kept sneaking glances at me when he thought I wasn't looking, but didn't pry any further into my personal life. I sat in the back seat, tugging at my sleeves every few seconds anxiously.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Dragneel," I mumbled, climbing out of the car when int had stopped in front of a house that didn't belong to me.

"Igneel," he corrected automatically. Natsu waved as they drove away. I waited for them to be completely out of sight before trudging back to my house slowly, lost in thought.

Igneel knew Papa. He knew Mama. How could that have been? I don't understand. I dimly remembered a tall spiky-haired man, kneeling in front of Layla's tomb stone to pay his respects. I would never have recognized him in a hundred years, but I'd blurred out most of that day. All I clearly remembered was the part where I was left alone, crying in front of the beautiful flowers on the grave.

I continued walking, remembering the past, when a voice caught me off guard in front of my driveway.

"Luce? What are you doing all the way over here?" Natsu asked. He was standing by the mailbox with an overflowing trash bag in his hand. He dropped it when he saw me. I gulped. This was not good. Not good at all. I was too preoccupied with my thoughts to pay attention to my surroundings. But seriously, what are the odds that in the countless rich neighborhoods in the town, they were next door neighbors and never knew it?

"Well, you see, I live here. But… Papa is very protective, and wouldn't be happy if he saw me riding home with someone he didn't know," I lied quickly. I laughed internally. If Papa was even home at this time of day, he wouldn't care how I got back from school. He couldn't be overprotective if he tried.

"We live right next door to each other?!" Natsu yelled. The shocked and sad look in his eyes made me want to sink right into the ground. Why was he said that we lived beside each other?

Bad Lucy! Don't focus on that. Focus on getting away from this situation.

"Ano… yeah, I guess we do." Lucy laughed weakly. It doesn't matter how he feels about it. "I have to go now, but I'll see you tomorrow at school tomorrow, right?" Before he could answer, I sped-walked down the driveway. Even though the houses were big, they were closer together than I realized. It felt miles long with Natsu's gaze following me to the large white door at the tops of my porch. I threw a wave over my shoulder and jumped into my house, leaning my forehead against the front door.

"What are you doing here?" someone snapped. I twirled around with a small shriek.

"Papa! I-I thought you were at work…," I whispered. If I hadn't already had my back pressed against the door, I would have tried to move away from him.


	6. A New Life (Part 2)

**Sorry for the wait! Here's the last part of A New Life. This story was an experiment I had to try out having one super long oneshot split into two parts. Let me know what you think? As always, thank you so much for reading and reviewing. Being able to see you guys' feedback makes me happy, whether it's good or bad! I appreciate all of you so much. **

**Also, since I'm so terrible at replying to comments in the next chapter of this story, I'm just going to start messaging you directly. If you don't want me to, just let me know (politely, please!)**

**I'll welcome any oneshot ideas!**

"I stayed home today. Had a headache. Who were you talking to outside?" he asked suspiciously. I cursed the large windows in the front of the house, exposing the whole front yard. He must have seen me stop and talk to Natsu.

"N-No one! He's no one, just my friend-," I swore in my mind. Why did my nerves keep making me babble today? Jude's eyes narrowed.

"Since when do you have a friend next door? Who is he?" Of course, the one time I wanted him to just yell and go back to whatever he was doing, he decides to play 20 questions with me.

"Papa, it's no one, please just-."

"LUCY HEARTFILIA. You will tell me who that boy is and why you think he's your friend, right now."

"His name is Natsu. He sits with me at lunch and talks to me! Him and Erza and Gray and others are the people I hang out with every day!" I said. Defending my friends was the one thing I wasn't afraid to do, no matter who I was talking to. I made my eyes hard, expression stone, and stood tall.

"DAMN IT. Since when are the Dragneels our neighbors? And what the hell were you doing with Igneel's son?!" he roared loudly. I barely flinched.

"He's my best friend. He offered me a ride home, and I accepted. You must not have realized who the neighbors here when we moved from Crocus." Jude's eyes practically glowed red at my sudden bout of confidence.

"We can't live next to a cop, especially not Igneel. We're moving. Pack your things, we're leaving in three days," he muttered. Papa started mumbling to himself, making arrangements in his head.

"...What?" I choked. Blood roared in my ears.

"We are moving," he said again, louder this time.

"I can't leave! I have friends here for the first time since Mama died!" I cried, regretting it an instant later when a strong hand wrapped around my upper arm. Papa tugged me sharply.

"If I say we leave, we leave. Do you have a problem with that?" Adrenaline took over my body, knocking away any remains of my usual fear and timidity.

"Yes, I do! I have friends here. People who genuinely like me! I love all of them with all my heart, and I'm not going to leave just because we live next to Igneel!"

"It's MR. DRAGNEEL to you! Nobody likes you. We're leaving, and that is final!" As if proving he will have the last word and daring me to say anything else, he dug his nails into my pale skin hard enough to draw blood. I cried out, blinking tears out of my eyes. Jude released me and turned his back, walking to his study.

"Yes, Papa," I said miserably. His words ringing with finality and hatred slapped me in the face.

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The next day at school, Natsu was waiting under the same tree as yesterday for me. The second he saw me, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me to the side. I was already running late today, and there was only 15 minutes left until the late bell would ring. I always got here much earlier, but wrapping my arm in a bandage to hide the purple splotches and crescent-moon claw marks took longer than I thought it would. It also didn't help that the temperature was near boiling, and I was trapped inside this stifling blazer. Taking it off would reveal the long tan bandage winding up my arm.  
"Hey, Luce? Is your dad nice to you?" Natsu asked first. I jumped in shock.

"U-Um, yes! Of course Papa is nice to me!" I lied, biting the inside of my cheek. "Why do you ask?"

"My pops said I should invite you to ride to school with us this morning. He didn't know you and your dad lived next to us either, so we stopped by your house. Your dad answered the door." Natsu's troubled gaze made me wish I could sink into the grass beneath my feet. I knew where this conversation was going. Natsu may not be the smartest kid book-wise, but his intuition was usually right. "I asked for you, but he said 'that stupid girl left an hour ago. She was wise to be gone before I woke up.' He yelled at me to leave and not come back, and to take my nosy father with me."

I flinched at the words. I knew Papa wasn't happy with me after my outburst from yesterday, but I didn't think it was this terrible. He usually got over it by now, especially after doing what he did to my arms. Tears filled my eyes. This was not a good way to start the day. Natsu's arms wrapped around me gingerly.

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Natsu's PoV

"What's going on?" I whispered in her ear. My heart was screaming for the pain she must be feeling. How could her bastard of a father say that about her? More importantly, how was it possible that Lucy, my Luce, the happiest girl in the whole school it seemed, was the tortured child that's been living beside me for almost a month? Ever since the house had been bought, I'd heard the cries and yelling coming from there. And if her mother was dead, then that meant the two voices belonged to Lucy and her father. All the nights I'd wished I could run next door and comfort the crying girl, and I had no clue that she was the one I spent all day hanging out with and all night thinking about.

"Natsu! Stop making Lu-chan cry!" Levy called, rushing over to her two friends. I let Lucy go and stepped back, but continued to stare at her. When Levy hugged her from the side, I saw the barely-noticeable hiss of pain Lucy gave from the pressure on her arm. My eyes narrowed.

"Good going, Ash Brain!" Gray sneered. Suddenly, the whole group was there. Erza was threatening my life for making her sister cry (even though it wasn't totally my fault), Levy and Cana were trying to cheer Lucy up even though they had no idea why she was upset in the first place, and Gray was unconsciously stripping while trying to start a fight with me. Luce stood in the middle of the chaos, and her sobs grew louder. Everyone stopped in the middle of whatever they were doing and clamored around her, unsure of what to do.

I needed to talk to her alone. I have to figure out why she hasn't told anyone about her father and the pain I know she goes through. A father should never yell at his daughter, for any reason, and especially not in the middle of the night. Although I could never make out the exact words he voiced, I knew it was nothing good. And from the way I heard Lucy cry, I knew it broke her heart.

"I'm moving," Lucy sobbed out. Everyone froze, silent except for the chatter of other passing students. It took five long seconds until all hell broke loose.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE MOVING?" we yelled simultaneously. Lucy cringed.

"Papa said we have to leave. I can't stay. I only have three days left."

"What brought this on?" Cana asked. "He has to have a reason to leave."

"I…," I could see the gears turning in her head. I knew the truth. Every time she'd done this in the past, I thought she was just anxious about what our response was, or thinking of how to word her next sentence. Now I knew it was all because she was trying to think of a lie on the spot. My heart plummeted. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to let you know." I saw her turn and start walking away. I wouldn't let this happen. She wasn't leaving as long as I was here.

I stepped forward and grabbed her wrist. I had to be sure. I had to confirm my suspicions. I prayed to whatever God there was that I was wrong.

"Luce." I said. She turned her wide eyes to me. I saw the fear and pain. The sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach kept my usual joking manner away. "You look like you're overheating. Take your blazer off." I'd never seen her without her uniform jacket or long sleeves.

"I'm fine!" she insisted. She glared into my eyes.

"Lucy, you're very red. Please take your jacket off! We have a few minutes for class, just long enough for you to cool off!" Levy said.

"...Okay," she said. She couldn't resist without causing a scene. I released her so she could carefully slip off the navy blue article of clothing. The short sleeved shirt was left underneath. Her upper left arm was wrapped in a long bandage near the color of her skin. I couldn't look away from it.

"What happened to your arm?" Gray asked. I could feel the others' shock.

"No worries, minna! I just fell, nothing serious! I landed on a tack, so I wrapped it up!"

"Half of your arm because of one tack?" Erza questioned. Lucy nodded, biting her lip. Her lie was weak, and she knew it. We all knew it.

"Lucy, why are you really moving?" Cana asked suspiciously.

"I know," I said under my breath. I was starting to shake with anger. That bastard. He hurt her. He fucking hurt his daughter. He fucking hurt LUCY. And Lucy was too fucking afraid of him to tell anyone.

"Natsu…," Lucy begged. I couldn't handled the tight feeling in my chest. I had to get out of here, fast, before I blew up like a grenade.

"I KNOW WHY, DAMN IT!" I roared, charging away. I ran all the way to my locker in the main building without being followed. A million and one thoughts were flying through my mind, but one task stood out among the others. I felt the stares on my back as my fingers flew over the lock, and then over the keypad of my phone. I dialed my dad's number. When he didn't answer, I called the police station and hoped he was there.

"Magnolia Town Police, how may I help you?" the bored receptionist asked.

"Max, is my dad there? It's important, and he isn't answering his phone," I sped through my explanation.

"Hey Natsu. Yeah, he's here. I'll go get him," he said. I tapped my fingers impatiently, listening the silence on the other end as Max walked to get the requested man.

"Natsu? Why are you calling me from school, and what's so important that it couldn't wait until tonight?" Igneel asked wearily. I didn't have time to feel bad about interrupting whatever he was doing.

"Lucy's moving."

Igneel was quiet for a moment, probably waiting for me to add something else. "And? I understand she's your friend, but people move all the ti-."

"Dad, you don't understand. Her dad knows we live next door now, and he's making her leave!"

"Son, you know he has a big company. Maybe her father wants to expand-."

"DAD! I KNOW you hear the crying in the middle of the night, because I sure as hell do! I told you what he said this morning! She took off her jacket earlier and showed her arms for the first time since I've known her!"

"Natsu, what you're implying is very serious. You can't throw accusations around like that."

"She has bandages. Her arm is wrapped up like a mummy."

"...She might have just gotten a cut."

"That's bullshit and you know it! You know what her dad is doing to her; why do you keep denying it! Arrest the bastard already!"

"Stop swearing, damn it! Grandine hears that and all you'll be tasting for a month is soap." He waited a second to let that sink in before continuing. "I don't know anything. I am a police officer without any proof of abuse." I could hear the reluctance he was trying to hide in his voice.

"This is so STUPID. She's in _**pain**_, dad. He's gonna beat her until she's dead! If we don't help her now, they'll move, and he'll just keep doing it!"

"Natsu. Keep your voice down, and try to relax. I'll try to stop them from moving, but that's the best I can do until I get real proof. If what you say is happening really is, it sounds like Lucy needs you now more than ever. Invite her to dinner tonight, and I'll see if I can get anything out of her." I hung up with a groan of frustration. The halls had cleared during my conversation. The bell was ringing in one minute. Lucy would already be in class with the others by now.

I rushed down the halls, stepping into the classroom just before the bell rang. Gildarts was sitting with his feet on his desk, pretending to read a magazine, but staring at Lucy worriedly over the top.

"Gildarts?" I asked quietly. He looked at me with a start.

"What is it?"

"I swear I'll never ask for a free period again if you let us have one right now." My teacher smiled slightly.

"Your friends beat me to it. Erza, Gray, Cana, and Levy already begged and threatened. Just go figure out what's wrong with Lucy, and be ready for class tomorrow."

I walked over to my group of friends, all circled around my favorite blonde. The rest of the students in the class chatted quietly and worked on homework, unaware of the true reason behind the random free period. I saw most of them glance over at Lucy in worry, but they knew better than to try to break into this protective barrier of people. Gray looked back and saw me coming, moving to the side to let me through. He was smart enough to realize this wasn't the best time to pick a fight.

"Luce?" I asked when I was close enough. She sat on a chair with guilt written across her face and tear tracks down her cheeks. My heart broke for her.

"I already told everyone, so it's okay," she said quietly. I panicked for a second. "I told everyone about that guy that bullied me the other day. He grabbed my arm hard enough to bruise and pulled out a knife. I didn't want to tell you guys to worry you, but you already knew because you saved me from him. I made you promise not to tell though."

I had to admit, it was a great lie. And with the state Lucy was in, she pulled it off expertly. Nobody could tell she was lying through her teeth. I saw the pleading in her eyes.

"My dad invited you to dinner tonight," I said, neither confirming nor denying her story.

"Is what she said true, Natsu?" Erza asked authoritatively. I glanced at Lucy one more, saw the silent begging coming from her, and nodded.

"Yeah."

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Lucy's PoV

"Hello, Mrs. Dragneel," I mumbled when the white door in front of me opened, bowing my head respectfully at the older lady. The tall blue haired woman smiled happily down at me.

Luckily, Papa was still at work when I came home to quickly change. My outfit was one of the countless fancy dresses Papa had hired someone to buy for me for the business parties and dinners he held. This specific one was pink and above my knees, gathered around the waist. I picked some roses from the flower garden behind my house and tied a ribbon around them, which I now presented.

I was grateful to Natsu for accepting and playing along with my lie. He only got chewed out a little from Erza for keeping it a secret, but nothing too terrible. My friends spoke normally and cheerfully after they plotted ways to track down the (imaginary) bully and kill him. For this reason, I couldn't deny the dinner invitation. I hoped that Natsu hadn't told his father about me.

"Oh, these are beautiful! Please, call me Grandine. You must be Lucy?" she asked, opening the door further and gesturing for me to come in. I stepped into the hall hesitantly. The inside of the house was much like my own home. A large white foyer, a kitchen to the right, a sitting room to the left, with a marble staircase leading to where the bedrooms supposedly were. A hallway stretched past the stairs with doors probably leading to another room, a closet, a study, and a bathroom.

"Hey Luce!" Natsu called, charging into the foyer. He skidded to a stop in front of me and grabbed my hand, resulting in an inflammation of my cheeks. Grandine took the flowers and walked off to the kitchen to fill a vase of water for them.

"Dad, Lucy's here!" Natsu yelled through the house. His dad stepped out of the office just past the kitchen, smiling warmly. I saw the calculating look in his eyes as he looked me over nonchalantly, and silently sighed. So much for this being a quiet night.

"Hi, Lucy. How are you?" he asked.

"I'm okay, how are you Mr. Dragneel?" I asked, bobbing my head in greeting.

"How many times do I have to tell you, please just call me Igneel!" he laughed, scratching the back of his head.

"It's a Lucy thing. She does that with all the teachers too," Natsu answered for me. I looked down and noticed he was still holding my hand, sending my heartbeat fluttering again. From the grin Igneel shot my way, I knew he noticed our hands too.

"Natsu, is your girlfriend here?" a high voice asked. A girl with long blue hair pulled into pigtails skipped down the stairs. She was in a cute green dress with a yellow and blue upside down 'V' shape at the top and a gold armband. An older kid, around Natsu's and my age, followed her downstairs, along with a white cat.

"I'm not his girlfriend!" "She's not my girlfriend!" Natsu and I said at the same time, each blushing madly. Natsu dropped my hand quickly. The young girl snickered at us.

"I'm Wendy," she introduced.

"I'm Jellal," the boy behind her said, nodding at me. He had on puffy blue pants and a white shirt. The navy cloak he was wearing was a few shades lighter than his blue hair. The red tattoo on the right half of his face stood out on his pale skin.

"He's in the grade above us at school. He watches Wendy for us sometimes, and helps her with homework," Natsu explained.

"I'm Lucy. It's very nice to meet both of you!" I said, bowing quickly. When I stood back up, everyone was staring at me strangely. Damn it. A girl bowing respectfully to other children? It's like the first day of class all over again! It was a force of habit by now. Papa had me trained well.

"It's time to eat!" Mrs. Dragneel called from the kitchen, knocking us out of the slightly awkward silence.

"Food!" Igneel and Natsu yelled at the same time with just as much enthusiasm, running into the dining room. Wendy and I laughed, and Jellal rolled his eyes.

"Jellal, you're welcome to stay for dinner too!" Grandine said, peeking her head around the corner of the kitchen wall.

"No thanks, Grandine. There's a student board meeting tonight, and I have to go," Jellal politely declined. He ruffled the top of Wendy's hair, earning an indignant squeak from the younger girl, and finished walking down the stairs. When he was beside me, he dropped a hand on my shoulder. "I don't think I said this earlier, but welcome to Fairy Tail Academy. It's nice to have a new face around." He continued on his way, closing the door almost silently behind him. I stood there confusedly.

"It's okay. Sometimes, his voice is so serious that you can't tell he was trying to compliment you," Wendy said. She walked over and took my hand, leading me to follow her family. "He's really nice though. He's great at helping if you ever need anything."

"Is that so…," I murmured to myself thoughtfully. Wendy pulled me through the kitchen and into the attached dining room where Natsu and Igneel were sneaking bites of food from the plates in the middle of the table when Grandine wasn't looking. It was like they'd turned it into a game. Grandine would turn around from where she was grabbing plates and silverware out of the cupboard, smacking their hands with a spoon. As soon as she turned around again though, they were back at it like 5 year olds.

"Luce, come sit beside me!" Natsu called when he spotted me. Wendy giggled and let go of my hand. There was one chair on each side of the rectangular table, but he pulled up another one from the corner of the room. He waved me over like an over-excited toddler.

"Can I help with anything Mrs. Dragneel?" I asked first. She laughed, shaking her head.

"Grandine, dear. Please just call me Grandine. And no, thank you, just sit down and try to tame that child you love." My face heated up until it was the same shade as Igneel's hair. Igneel and Wendy laughed. Luckily, Natsu had gone back to trying to sneak food from the platters and hadn't heard the comment.

"I don't-," I started.

"Oh hush. Who else would put up with that idiot?" Instead of replying to her, I hid my sizzling face underneath my bangs and sat beside Natsu. He gave me his usual toothy grin as Wendy took her seat across from us. Igneel got up and pulled his chair out for his wife before resuming his spot at the head of the table.

"So Lucy, I heard you lived in Crocus before. What made you move out here?" Grandine asked as we piled food onto our plates. I had braced myself for the personal questions I knew would come, resolving to answer as truthfully as I could. After all, I was leaving in a few days. Nothing I said now would be able to follow me to wherever I moved next. Why not be a little more open than usual?

"I had some troubles. Papa's company was really starting to grow, and it seemed I was getting in the way of some things," I said. It wasn't a total lie. I only left out the part about running away. Not much use in explaining that whole thing to them.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that! I guess it's a good thing you moved though. Since you two met, Natsu hasn't been able to stop talking about you!" Grandine said. I choked a little on my food, and I saw Natsu's face getting darker from the corner of my eye.

"How's Jude been doing? I haven't heard from him in years," Igneel asked bluntly. I refused to let myself stutter. I pulled my hands into my lap and adjusted my sleeves quickly before answering.

"Papa is well. His company is expanding, so we're moving in three days," I said in a monotone. Natsu clenched his hand around his fork.

"About that, actually, I've been meaning to walk over. After we drove you home yesterday, I decided to look into the Heartfilia Konzern a little more. It seems there are some errors in the company affairs. I'm afraid Jude won't be too happy, but I don't think you can leave until this all gets sorted out." My eyes widened. This was not going to end well. If Papa was angry, what was he going to do to me? Maybe I could avoid him long enough for him to cool down…

What am I thinking? Jude Heartfilia doesn't take no for an answer. If somebody tells him he can't move, whether it be a cop or not, he'll find a way past it.

"Lucy, how's your mother? We've talked about your father, but nothing about her," Grandine obliviously asked, knocking me out of my thoughts. I appreciated her trying to change the topic, but I'm not sure this was much better than talking about Jude. I saw Natsu and Igneel catch their breath and glance at me. Wendy looked just as curious as her mother.

"She died a few years ago," I explained. I could almost feel the light leaving my eyes. I couldn't help but get sucked back into the past when I thought of her. Wendy pushed out of her chair and circled around the table to grasp my hand.

"It's okay, Lucy-nii. We'll be your family!" she said cheerfully. Her eyes squinted shut with the magnitude of her smile. My eyes watered as I smiled.

"We really will be a family when you guys get married, anyway," Igneel remarked quietly, diffusing the sadness in the room. Wendy skipped back to her seat, laughing as Natsu and I fervently denied being a couple for the dozenth time tonight.

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"Lucy." I looked over at Natsu's serious tone. He was sitting up on his bed, leaning against the headboard, staring at me intently. I shied away from the fire I saw burning in his eyes. I knew what was coming before the next words left his mouth.

We finished dinner with lighter conversations about our how our days were and friends. Grandine all but shoved me out of the kitchen when I offered to help clean up. Instead, Wendy helped her mother with dishes while Igneel fell onto the couch in the living room to watch TV. Natsu dragged me up the stairs so he could show me his room, leaving behind the roaring laughter of his father as he teased our relationship yet again.

His room was exactly as I'd pictured it would be. The bed was a mess of blankets thrown in a heap with a blue cat snuggled on top. Happy immediately liked me as soon as I started petting him. The floor was covered in clothes and games and random _stuff_, some of which I had no idea what its purpose could be. His desk was off to one side, pushed up against the dark red wall.

There were pictures hanging all over the room. I took my time walking around to see them all as Natsu played with his cat. Each picture was hung with care. They were all with his friends. I blushed when I noticed that I was in many of them. The others were of him growing up with Erza and Gray, of Igneel and Grandine getting married, and other family photos.

"Yes?" I asked anyway. I put down the dragon figurine I'd been admiring.

"Is your dad hitting you?" he asked plainly. I flinched a little at the accusation. I knew that he knew- or suspected at least- Papa of abuse, but I didn't think he'd say it so openly! I crossed my fingers and hoped again that he hadn't told his father about this.

"What are you talking about, Natsu?" I asked, hoping to play it off as nothing. I turned my back to him again, fiddling with the loose corner of the poster on his wall.

"Lucy." I felt a hand on my shoulder. I slowly turned to see him standing a foot away from me. "You don't have to live like that. Just tell me the truth. I can protect you."

Tears were starting to fill my eyes. "Please stop," I whispered.

"Tell me what's happening."

"Don't you think I would if I could?" I snapped. This wasn't our first argument. Arguing came often with Natsu. But, this was the first argument that was actually about something serious. I'd never seen him like this before. My tone made Natsu's anger flare. My heart sped up.

"Of course you can! Just say the words! Just four little words!" he said, voice rising slightly.

"I can't! Don't you see that? I can't do anything but grin and bear it!" I cried. I refused to let myself cry.

"Just let me protect you!" he pleaded. I took another step back, bumping against his wall. I saw the struggle in his eyes. I knew him well enough to know that his anger was covering his fear. He was afraid for me. He was afraid that something terrible was going to happen every time I went home.

"Why?" I asked in a small voice. "I don't want anything to change! Let me enjoy what I have left! I have friends, like Erza and Gray and Cana and Levy! I have you! Can't that be enough? Can't it be enough that I'm actually happy for the first time in years?"

"NO! It CAN'T be enough when you're about to move away! Not when every single night I know that you go home and get hurt! I hear you cry at night, did you know that? Why can't you just let me protect you?"

"Natsu, I'm nakama. I understand if you feel like you have to save me, but I can take care of myself. Please, just let me-."

"Are you really that dense? You AREN'T NAKAMA TO ME! You're so, so much more, damn it!" Out of habit of being frustrated, Natsu reached up to scratch the back of his neck. I had no control over my body's instinctive reaction. I collapsed onto the floor, crossing my arms over my chest. I knew what he was doing. He always scratched his neck when he was trying to say something he really meant. I knew it, but it didn't stop me from seeing my father raising his hand to me. At the same time, Natsu's bedroom door slammed open to reveal Igneel and Wendy standing in the doorway. I looked up slowly. Igneel seemed to understand quickly, but Wendy was missing a part of the puzzle. Natsu stood in the same position, his fingers frozen on his skin, dumbfounded. His mouth dropped in horror.

"Lucy," Natsu choked. My eyes widened at what I'd done. I'd just given them the perfect evidence. I undid everything I tried so hard to hide. Before I could move, Natsu was kneeling down, wrapping his arms around my body, engulfing me in his warmth. I couldn't break out of his hold, even if I wanted to.

"Wendy, go get your mother and find a movie to watch. We'll join you soon," Igneel murmured. He stopped into the room and sat on the floor beside us. Natsu rocked me back and forth. Grandine rushed in a moment later.

"Somebody better start explaining," she said not unkindly, looking down at us. I couldn't read the expression on her face.

"Can you heal Lucy?" Natsu asked tearfully. He looked at me questioningly. I nodded. There was no point in hiding it anymore. I've never seen Natsu so gentle. He carefully let me go, pulling up my sleeve, and gingerly unwrapped the winding bandage on my arm. I saw Grandine cover her mouth in shock.

"Igneel, is this what had you so worried earlier?" she asked, moving closer to examine my arm lightly. I winced when she accidentally squeezed something, but Natsu's comforting heat helped me relax. I leaned against him as Grandine disappeared momentarily to get a first aid kit.

"Natsu, you and Grandine go outside. I'm going to talk to Lucy for a minute, and then we can all watch a movie with Wendy," Igneel said after my arm had been treated by the ex-doctor. Grandine had to practically drag Natsu away from my side. When the door closed behind them, there was a loud thud. Igneel was crouched on the ground beside where I was still kneeling on the carpet.

"You can't let this go on, Lucy," Igneel murmured. My head was a flurry of emotions. Had Natsu meant what he said, saying I was more than just nakama to him? An even bigger thought overshadowed that one. I'd just given away my secret. I just ruined everything. Nothing will ever be okay again. What was going to happen to me now?

"I have to. What else can I do? If he gets in trouble, I'll be shipped off to some orphanage."

"I won't let that happen. Natsu won't either, for that matter. You'll stay with us."

I was flabbergasted. "Mr...Igneel, I can't let you do that for me. There's no way that would ever work!" I exclaimed. What he was suggesting was so beautifully tempting, it scared me to think about. To be able to stay in Magnolia, with all of my friends, with Natsu? It was too good to possibly be true!

"We'll just have to kidnap you then!" Igneel's wink caused my weak giggle.

"I'll never be able to repay you for this. But, how will you pull it off? The legal side of all of this…," I trailed off.

"Don't you worry about it. I've got a good friend that'll be able to help."

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.

The small stone statue stood in the shade of the trees. Its face was upturned, staring up at the sky, just like the woman it was made to look like always did. Just Heartfilia's name was written on the polished rock, gracefully watched over by his one true love forever. His daughter stood somberly with a bundle of flowers in her arms.

"Papa…," she murmured. Natsu had left her alone for a few minutes to say her final goodbyes.

Even after everything that happened, Lucy couldn't hate her father. He treated her terribly, he hurt her so many times, but it was only because her mother dying. If Layla had still been alive, none of it would have happened. He lost to the darkness that took over his soul from losing his beloved wife.

After his sentence to prison, the blonde felt like the princess she'd spent her life being called. She had a home with the Dragneels, friends that were more like family, and someone that she cared more about than she wanted to admit. Jude's passing 3 years later was the first hard reminder she'd had of her old life.

In the end, Jude Heartfilia will be just another broken heart that the world will forget. But Lucy won't. When she thinks of her father, she'll remember the good times, the times they shared before Layla died.

"Luce? Are you okay?" Natsu asked, wrapping an arm around his girlfriend of 2 years.

"Yes."

"Are you ready to go home, or do you want to stay longer?"

"…Let's leave."

Natsu led her away from her parents' graves and towards the car waiting for them. Wendy, Igneel, Grandine, and even Happy and Charle sat inside. They were all just as serious as Natsu. Everyone wanted to come, though only Igneel got out of the car and visited the grave. None of them wanted Lucy to feel like she was alone anymore.

'_Mama, Papa, I'll miss you. But I hope you know, wherever you are, that I love you both. I've survived through the storm, lived through something I couldn't save myself from. I dreamed every night that it would stop, and it finally did. Thanks to Natsu, I've finally found a place where I'm loved."_


End file.
